Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Officers at the Dumai Naval Base foiled an attempt to smuggle 15 tons of logs to Malaysia after detaining a nameless ship in Tanjung Gering waters, Pulau Rupat, Riau province, a Navy spokesman said.
"Skippered by Sukri, the nameless ship of 12 gross dead-weight tons was trying to smuggle out the logs," spokesman of the Navy`s Western Fleet Command Lt Col Hendra Pakan said here on Saturday.
When he was examined, Sukri was not able to produce a sailing license while the logs in the ship`s hold were not covered by the required documents.
Sukri and other members of the ship`s crew as well as the nameless vessel are being held at the Bengkalis naval post for further investigation, he said.
Illegal logging and log smuggling to a number of countries such as Malaysia and China have are causing losses to the state amounting to about US$600 million annually.
According to a report issued by the forestry Ministry in 2003, about 10 million cubic meters of logs are being smuggled out to other countries every year.
From Papua, for example, an average of 600,000 cubic meters of logs were being exported illegally to foreign countries including China, every year.
The log smuggling to several countries such as Malaysia and China involved large or small volumes. Large volumes were transported in container ships and barges. Wooden motor vessels and rafts were used to carry out small scale log smuggling.
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