§ 56. Mr. Teelingasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps he has taken, either through our Ambassador in Indonesia or otherwise, for the release of the Hong Kong British-registered s.s. "Hong Kong Trader"; what has happened to the 250,000 dollar bond paid to the Indonesian Government for release, which has not yet occurred; whether he is aware that conflicting orders were given by the Indonesian Navy that the ship should put out to sea and by the Indonesian Army which told the ship to continue loading; and who actually arrested the ship.
§ Mr. Ian HarveyHer Majesty's Ambassador drew the attention of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the detention of the ship in official notes of 22nd March and 23rd April, and Her Majesty's Consul in Djakarta made oral representations on at least five occasions.
On 12th June an official note was sent proposing release of the ship against a monetary bond. A bond for 250,000 Hong Kong dollars has recently been paid to the account of the Bank of Indonesia with the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in Hong Kong.
As regards the third part of the Question, representatives of the ship's charterers have stated that conflicting orders were given by the Indonesian military and naval authorities and I have no information to the contrary.
My information is that the ship was arrested by a patrol boat of the Indonesian navy.