The government of Indonesia plans to close its national waters to an approaching vessel carrying nuclear waste because it fears a spill from the vessel.
Patrol boats deployed by the Indonesian Navy and water police will be used to enforce the ban.
Trader is currently sailing off the southern coast of Africa, en route from France to Australia.
“To reach Australia, passing Indonesian waters will be its first choice. We will block the ship because nuclear waste is very dangerous,” vice-Admiral Desi Albert Mamahit, head of Indonesia’s sea security coordinating agency, told The Jakarta Post.
Trader passed through Indonesian waters three months ago when it sailed from Australia to France, said Desi.
“Our ships are on standby, although the ship is still far from Indonesia. We have information about the ship,” he told the newspaper.
