Indonesia’s Maritime Security Board (Bakamla) will request the Navy to prevent a vessel carrying 125 tons of nuclear waste from France to Australia from entering the Indonesian waters.
Image: Hartema / Heyken
“Our investigation has found that the vessel had ever entered our seawaters when sailing to France. And now we are monitoring its travel back to Australia,” Bakamla Chief Vice Admiral Desi A Mamahit told reporters at his office in Jakarta.
Transporting the nuclear waste is BBC Shanghai, an Antigua & Barbuda-flagged general cargo ship.
Admiral Desi mentioned two reasons why Indonesian authorities disallow BBC Shanghai passing through Indonesian waters on its way to Australia. The first reason is that the Indonesian seawaters are not part of the routes allowed for foreign vessels traveling from Europe to Australia and vice versa. The second reason is that BBC Shanghai carries nuclear waste.
BBC Shanghai is due to reach Australia by 27 November and that it is now in Africa. France-based nuclear company Areva sent the nuclear waste back to Australia.
The waste reportedly derives from the spent nuclear fuel sent from Australia to France in 1990s and early 2000s. French law obliges such nuclear waste to be sent back to Australia.
Related news: Cargo Ship carrying nuclear waste sails for Australia from France
Source: globalindonesianvoices.com