Indonesian navy seizes sixth vessel for allegedly ‘smuggling’ palm oil

Indonesian Navy Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Agung Prasetiawan (left) inspecting a container filled with cartons of cooking oil on May 6, 2022 at Belawan Port in Medan, North Sumatra. - AFP

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): The Indonesian Navy has detained five foreign-flagged vessels and one Indonesian-flagged vessel for attempting to transport palm oil outside the country in direct violation of the palm oil rules currently in force.

The government imposed a mandatory domestic market obligation (DMO) for producers in late January, followed in late April by an export ban on cooking oil raw materials, which includes crude palm oil (CPO), refined palm oil and refined, bleached, deodorized (RBD) palm olein.