JAKARTA, June 17 (Reuters) - An Indonesian navy patrol seized about 5 tonnes of a material used to make explosives from a wooden boat off the coast of East Java and detained 12 crew members, a navy spokesman said on Tuesday.

Major Kariono, spokesman for the navy's eastern fleet, said that the boat, which was heading from Surabaya to Bala-Balangan island in West Sulawesi province, was stopped on Sunday and found to be carrying 107 sacks of an oxidising substance that could be used to make home-made explosives.

Kariono said the substance was often used to make explosives for killing fish. "They (the crew) said the material would be used to make fish-bombs, but we don't believe it because it is a huge amount," Kariono said.

The crew was being questioned at the naval base in Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, he said.

Sulawesi, which has large Muslim and Christian communities, suffered from religious tension in recent years, but the conflict was successfully resolved. (Reporting by Telly Nathalia; Editing by Sara Webb and Roger Crabb)

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