An investigation from the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries looking into the massive fire that took out 39 fishing boats at Bali’s Benoa Harbor last week found that the blaze’s level of destruction was “totally unnecessary.”
If the owners of the ships anchored at the port had complied with the rules, the July 9 fire would not have been such a big deal, says Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti.
“So the incident in Benoa was unnecessary. If the shipowners obeyed the rules, they would not have all been piled up there,” Pudjiastuti said at a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday, as quoted by Bali Post.
The cause of the fire was determined to be a short circuit on one of the boats, which quickly spread with all the diesel from the boat’s engine, the fiberglass in the boats, and of course the chaotic parking system.
“It’s too crowded and there are many ships that should be moved, discharged, or even destroyed. But it’s because many of the boat owners do not want to do so, for fear of reporting taxes and so on,” the minister said.
From the results of the investigation, there are more than 700 boats docked in Benoa. This number, according to the minister, is above the port’s capacity.
Many of the boats don’t have recognized, registered owners, while a number were foreign owned and need to be returned to their countries of origin, says Pudjiastuti.
The ministry will be working on breaking up the density of boats left at Benoa, she added.
