Govt urged to act on illegal foreign ships

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta , Mon, 03/03/2008 12:52 AM

The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) and the Indonesian Seafarers Union have demanded the government take action against foreign-flagged vessels operating illegally in Indonesia.

The groups said illegal operations had caused losses to the state because the vessels avoided paying taxes to the Indonesian government.

Some of the tanker ships were allegedly chartered by state oil and gas firm Pertamina.

Under a 2005 presidential decree, foreign ships were banned from operating as domestic carriers within Indonesia's maritime boundaries.

"The decree clearly states that for domestic trade within the country, only Indonesian-flagged ships are allowed to carry out delivery services," union chairman Hanafi Rustandi told The Jakarta Post.

He said despite erecting foreign flags, these vessels were actually operated by Indonesian companies.

"The ships are able to stay in Indonesia's waters without the obligation to abide by our regulations," Hanafi said.

The ITF membership includes seafarers and their unions from across the globe.

Hanafi, also coordinator of Indonesia's ITF, said there were many ships operating in the country under "Flags of Convenience" (FoC), which meant owners registered their vessels in other countries and hoisted those flags on their ships.

The ITF said agents from 32 countries, including Bahamas, Bermuda (UK), Burma, Cambodia, Jamaica, Lebanon, Liberia, Mongolia, North Korea, Panama and Sri Lanka, offered permits for "Flags of Convenience".

"An owner will only have to pay around US$200 to $300 to register each ship under an FoC," Vadim G. Ivanov, foreign relations director at the Russian Seafarers Union, said at a press conference Friday with Hanafi.

Ivanov said once a ship was registered under FoC, the owner then recruited the cheapest labor, paid minimal wages and lowered the living standards and working conditions of their crews.

The federation had received reports from many sailors complaining they lost their rights while working as crew members on board foreign-flagged ships.

One of the victims was a Myanmarese seafarer, Kyaw Htin, who worked for Panama-flagged oil tanker MT Julia-I operated by Indonesian company PT Bina Usaha Mandiri Indonesia Laut (BUMI Laut).

Hanafi identified the ship's owner as Jaka Aryadipa Singgih, a lawmaker with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

In a letter released to the press during the news conference, Kyaw said US$4,929 of his salary had not been paid by the company, although he had been off-board since January.

"The company where he (Htin) worked also held his passport and other documents, limiting his activities in Indonesia," Hanafi said.

Singgih and his lawyers Andy Syam Panaungi and Susanto could not be reached on Sunday.

The ITF said BUMI Laut has been operating 14 vessels, of which seven were chartered by Pertamina, to distribute fuel to eastern Indonesia.

"Pertamina should cancel the charter agreement with those ships because their practices are against our regulations and the conventions of ILO and IMO," he said.

PT BUMI Laut, however, denied the company had charter agreements with Pertamina.

"The statement of ITF that Pertamina chartered our ships is wrong," he said.

"As a company owned by Indonesian businessmen, PT BUMI Laut works professionally and always pay the salaries of its workers," the company's lawyers said in a statement, Berita Kota daily reported last Wednesday. (dia)