MT HCC ship wreckage dangerous for tanker plying the Cilacap route

Fisherman in Cilacap, Central Java, have urged owners of the sunk MT HCC vessel to recover the wreckage so that it would not cause any problems for fishermen and also for crude oil tanker plying the Cilacap route.

"If not recovered soon, the wreckage could be hit by tankers or other big vessels that go in and out of the Cilacap port," said a member of the Wijaya Kusama search and rescue team.

The chairman of the Association of Indonesian Fishermen's Cilacap branch, Atas Munandar, said on Thursday that his party had received complaints from a number of fishermen that the wreckage could hamper fishing activities in the area.

Atas said he would soon send a letter to the owner of the sunk vessel to uncover the vessel.

Daelani, owner of sunk MT HCC vessel, said that his party was ready to recover the wreckage. He said he could ask a third party to recover the wreckage and own them and use them as scrap irons.

MT HHC vessel chartered by state oil and gas firm Pertamina to carry 1,000 tons of liquefied asphalt from its Cilacap oil refinery to Pare-Pare, South Sulawesi, sank off Cilacap port in Central Java.

The vessel, with 11 crews, sank east of the notorious Nusakambangan island, around seven miles away from Cilacap shores, and only several dozen meters away from Pertamina's floating port in Cilacap.

According to the Cilacap port's administrator, Sahud Sihombing, the cause of the accident was the leakage in the vessel's engine room. Ship captain Hendrik Takumansang was surprised knowing that water had filled the engine room and ordered his crew to save themselves, as the vessel was not anymore stable. (*)