Indonesia finds stranded Chinese ship in Riau
Selasa, 27 Oktober 2015 21:46 WIB | 980 Views
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian authorities found a Chinese fishing ship stranded in the western waters of Tambelan Island of Riau Islands Province last Saturday.
"We have found a stranded Chinese flagged fishing ship in Indonesian waters," the Maritime and Fishery Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said here on Tuesday.
The Indonesian Navy at the Tambelan post inspected the location after it received a report from a Tambelan fisherman on 24 October, 2015.
The Navy inspected the area and found that the ship had stranded off the Mundaga Island. The officers found that the ship had a leak in its prow.
The inspection team pulled the ship away from the coral to free the Chinese vessel. They also investigated the two crew members of the ship.
According to the investigation, it was a fish cargo ship led by a helmsman, named Yang Hui. The ship with five strong Chinese crew departed from Hong Kong on October 17 and was headed to the Indian Ocean to carry fish when its GPS got damaged and it got wrecked against the coral last Saturday.
The Indonesian Youth Entrepreneur Association has urged the ministry to add more patrol boats for better monitoring of the waters to stem illegal fishing practices.
"As a maritime country, Indonesia needs more patrol boats to monitor the waters," the Chairman of the association, Anggawira, said.
He said although the cost of the patrol boat was prohibitive, the government should consider the greater loss that would accrue due to illegal poaching and fuel smuggling.
Anggawira said the total potential loss from illegal fishing and fuel smuggling can reach up to RP30 trillion per year. (*)
Indonesia finds stranded Chinese ship in Riau - ANTARA News
Indonesia looks at India for maritime partnership
When India and Indonesia gained independence from colonial powers during 1940s, their ancient ties got a fresh impetus. The relationship soured during the Sixties when Indonesia supported Pakistan in its conflict with India. The “Look East Policy” sought to undo the bitterness, but things didn’t improve much. With new leaderships in both countries, things appear set for a new start. Arif Havas Oegroseno, Deputy Minister to the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs of Indonesia, visited India recently to push for a strong maritime partnership between the two countries. Excerpts from an interview with
What is Indonesia’s focus on renewing partnership with India?
We have a wide range of issues including maritime economy and a shared identity. Srivijaya, a strong kingdom of Sumatra, had relations with
India since seventh century which was eventually lost in translation. Taking our heritage and new maritime strategy along, we hope to establish strong cooperation with India in oceans and on land. Biotechnology research, marine research, shipyard building, infrastructure, trade and investment are the areas where we seek India’s help. Strengthening maritime security partnership is, of course, a major part of our strategy.
President Joko Widodo has put forth a fresh foreign discourse to make Indonesiaworld’s “maritime axis”. Could you elaborate on that?
Our defence postures need to change and be commensurate with the threats we face. We are working on to meet a Minimum Essential Force by 2024. In the last 10 months, we have intensively focused on curbing fish theft and blew up 100 illegal vessels. Now, the catch of fishermen has become double. This is helping domestic industries to grow. We need to modernise to keep pace with growth. We also need to increase connectivity and economic equality between various provinces. Ocean should have been our backbone of economy but we lost the opportunity due to illegal activities and unexplored waters. Now the ocean is being looked at systematically. We want greater engagement with the countries in the Indo-Pacific region for inclusive regional development.
Indonesia’s naval capabilities and patrolling are said to be limited despite maritime vulnerability.
Over 95% of the threat in our waters is non-traditional. We are the largest archipelago in the world comprising thousands of islands. Hence, our challenges are different. Illegal fishing and human trafficking are major threats. We are working with Philippines, Timor,
Australia and others in a big way to address these issues. We have recently rescued 3,000 foreigners enslaved in Indonesia for years by some offshore companies. Such organised crimes are of great concern globally. To improve our strength in the Indo-Pacific region, we are holding a huge joint naval exercise next year with 30 countries. Two high-tech research vessels have been purchased from France. These can explore our waters 10,000 metres below sea level.
Have you estimated the loss to marine economy in past 10 years?
It comes to US$20 billion, which includes stolen fish, damage of national resources, damage of local economy, burden on subsidies etc. This is a huge amount considering that our GDP is $1.3 trillion.
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