JAKARTA: Berda Asmara can still remember the last conversation she had with her husband, Guntur Ari Prasetyo, before he set sail in April in the Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala 402.
“Usually, the older the submarine, the riskier it becomes to operate it despite routine maintenance and routine overhauls,” said I Gusti Bagus Dharma Agastia, an assistant professor in President University’s International Relations Study Programme. Besides the development of its marine economy, Indonesia’s new Ocean Policy includes plans to strengthen the Navy, ensure better control over its outermost islands, improve law enforcement at sea, conserve its rich marine resources and facilitate sea transport to its remote islands.The programme is designed to make the delivery of goods from the more developed western parts of the country to its less developed eastern regions more effective.
“I’d say that Indonesia is making progress slowly,” said senior analyst Dedi Dinarto from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ Indonesia Programme. He cited the deal the Jokowi government recently signed to buy eight frigates from Italy. He said Indonesia’s figure falls “very far short” of the country’s security requirements, which include countering conventional threats like state-on-state conflict, the threat of separatism in some territories and threats of maritime piracy and terrorism.Armed robbery and transnational crimes like drug and human trafficking are other maritime issues that Indonesia faces, cited Agastia.
As at June 25, the ministry has captured 119 illegal vessels this year, including 41 foreign fishing vessels — from Vietnam mostly, as well as Malaysia and the Philippines.But both agencies say their fleets, of around 30 vessels each, need to expand. Bakamla chief Aan Kurnia estimates that he needs 78 to 80 vessels.
It needs to protect its waters against PRC infringements into its economic zones
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