First ASEAN maritime forum held in Surabaya

Antara News, Saturday, July 31, 2010 20:53 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia held the First ASEAN Maritime Forum (AMF) in Surabaya, East Java, on 28-29 July 2010.

The forum was a follow up to a stipulation in the ASEAN Political Security Community (APSC) Blueprint, according to the Jakarta-based ASEAN Secretariat, in a statement here, Saturday.

The Forum was officially opened by the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia Triyono Wibowo.

Speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General of ASEAN, the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs, Bagas Hapsoro, acknowledged the multi-dimensional nature of maritime aspects, such as the protection of the environment, security, navigation, and other security-related challenges.

DSG Bagas also underscored the necessity to further enhance efforts to address maritime issues urgently in a comprehensive manner.

Although maritime issues are not something new for the Member States, they remain crucial in ASEAN community building efforts, he said.

The inaugural meeting of the AMF discussed cross cutting matters related to maritime, including topics such as connectivity, maritime security problems and search and rescue to assist persons and vessels in distress at sea.

The establishment of AMF is timely, in that it coincides with the implementation of the APSC Blueprint to enhance regional linkages that will eventually contribute to the fostering of the establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015.

The Forum is hoped to produce inter-sectoral recommendations for reference of ASEAN sectoral bodies in addressing maritime related issues within its functions and responsibilities.

Neighboring`s poachers nabbed in Indonesian Waters

Antara News, by Eliswan Azly, Sunday, April 25, 2010 00:39 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Illegal fishing in Indonesian waters is no longer an open secret, as this largest archepelagic country with its vast territorial waters has been the target of foreign poachers.

Recently, some poachers from neighboring countries like the Philippines and Vietnam were captured by Indonesian naval patrol boats during routine operations.

Indonesian naval patrol boat KRI Kakap-811 was reported to have caught four Filipino boats poaching in Sulawesi waters this week, Eastern Fleet`s spokesman Lt.Col.Toni Saiful said in Surabaya on Friday.

The fishing boats and their crew had been brought to the Nunukan naval base in East Kalimantan for investigation. The captured boats were identified as FB-Conie 5, FB-Conie 4 FB-Conie 10, and FB-Philcon 3, he said.

"The boats did not have permits for fishing in the Indonesian economic zone. Their skippers and crew members are all Filipinos," he said.

When questioned, they confessed their offense. They sailed from General Santos in the Philippines for fishing in Indonesia, he said.

In the meantime, ten boats manned by Vietnamese fishermen had reportedly been seized by a patrol boat of the ministry of marine affairs and fisheries for illegally fishing in Indonesia`s Exclusive Economic Zone in Natuna waters.

Bambang Nugroho, the head of port of control and monitoring of fishery and marine resources (P2SDKP) said on Friday nine of the boats and their skippers were now held at the port while one had been sent home carrying around 61 crew members of all the boats.

Only the skippers would be legally processed because based upon experience, the crew could not be sued. "At the most, they would be charged with violating the immigration law and then deported," he said.

The nine boats arrived at the P2SDKP port at 3 pm under escort of Hiu Macan 001, a patrol boat of the ministry of marine affairs and fisheries.

Bambang further said the Vietnamese fishermen did not resist arrest and everything therefore went smoothly. "We are still trying to find out about the volume of their catch," he said.

Hiu Macan 001 on Sunday (April 11) seized 10 foreign boats belonging to Vietnamese fishermen for poaching in Natuna waters.

He said nine of the boats were now being legally processed while their 21 tons catch seized as evidence had been destroyed because they contained formaldehyde.

Bambang said Natuna, Arafura and the northern parts of the North Sulawesi waters are foreign fishermen`s favorite places for poaching.

Bambang appealed to the people not to buy the catch of Thai or Vietnamese fishermen not only because they had been stolen from Indonesia but also contains formaldehyde which is detrimental to human health.

According to the FAO, Thailand and Vietnam are the world`s biggest fish producers although they have relatively small territorial waters.

The waters in West Kalimantan which are part of Zone III along with Natuna, Karimata and South China Sea are rich with marine resources reaching one million tons a year.

The fish species in these waters include mackerel, tuna and squids.

In 2007 the ministry sent out 21 of its patrol boats and seized 185 foreign boats, and in 2008 its 23 patrol boats caught red-handed 242 foreign poachers, and in 2009 arrested 180 in Indonesian territorial waters.

The potential loss saved from 180 boats was worth around Rp720 billion based upon the assumption of one motor boat incurring a loss of Rp4 billion a year

Based on the fact that a great number fishing boats had been captured, Indonesia is vulnerable to poaching by foreign trawlers.

From January to March 2010, for instance, the Tanjungpinang immigration had deported a dozen foreign fishermen from Riau Islands, including 15 Thais, 17 Vietnamese, and two Malaysians, for poaching in the waters of Natuna Islands.

Lots of foreign fishermen on their trawlers have been poaching in Indonesian waters for decades.

As a result, Indonesia suffers a loss of at least US$ 2.136 million a year.

Under Indonesian fishery Law No. 31/2004 on fisheries, the ministry`s patrol guards are authorized to carry guns. But in particular, the law is designed to accommodate the needs and challenges of developing the fishing industry and prevent, deter and eliminate illegal fishing.

The Indonesian government has been criticized for being "too lenient" in releasing and allowing Filipino fishermen to repatriate and reunite with their families. They would usually give one or two excuses, humanitarian considerations or lack of funds to provide basic needs and shelter.

Unfortunately, until now Indonesia still has not special committee to deal with illegal fishing cases. The government tends to rely on a sectoral approach in handling such cases. Coordination between related government agencies is weak and would not be applied on a regular basis. A fisheries court has not been established either.

Indonesia and the Philippines have established a Joint Commission on bilateral cooperation. The two countries have also signed an MOU on Marine and Fisheries Cooperation in General Santos, the Philippines, on Feb. 23, 2006. However, the two countries have not yet established bilateral arrangements to table particular issues of fishermen.

Besides, hundreds of confiscated foreign-flagged fishing vessels are now crowding dozens of seaports across Indonesia.

They are corroding, if not sinking and already turned to wrecks, while waiting for legal processing, which could take years. But no specific budget has been allocated for the maintenance of these seized boats.

Indonesia, which suffered a loss of Rp 30 trillion a year to poaching, is desperate to beef up its fishing patrol fleet, which currently consists of only 21 vessels. Securing the fishing boats could at least reduce the loss.

RI, EU hold seminar on maritime security in Brussels

Antara News, Monday, November 23, 2009 14:34 WIB

London (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and the European Union organized a seminar themed "Measures to Enhance Maritime Security: Legal and Practical Aspects" at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Brussels on Monday.

The seminar was initiated jointly by Indonesia, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) SOM Leaders and EU President Karl-Olof Anderson of Sweden, according to Priatna, a diplomat of the Indonesian embassy in Brussels, Monday.

Priatna said the seminar was a follow up of a decision taken during the last meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) senior officials held in Phuket last July.

The Second ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Senior Official Meeting on Maritime Security will be held in New Zealand in March 2010. The results of the meeting will be put forward as recommendations to an ARF ministerial level meeting to be held in Vietnam in mid 2010.

The Brussels seminar was jointly chaired by the Indonesian foreign ministry`s Director General for Asia, Pacific and Africa (Aspasaf) Hamzah Thayeb, who was also the head of the Indonesian delegation, and Head of the European Commission Adviser on ARF SOM Tomasz Kozlowski.

Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium Nadjib Riphat Kesoema at an informal gathering with the seminar`s participants at the Indonesian embassy in Brussels, hailed the cooperation between the European Union and Indonesia within the ARF forum.

It demonstrated that bilateral relations between Indonesia and the European Union were at a very conducive level, he said.

"There are a lot of things that can be implemented jointly by Indonesia and the European Union such as cooperation in the political and security fields," he said.

The Indonesian ambassador hoped that the bilateral relatitions between Indonesia and the European Union could be intensified through activities to mutual benefit.

Related Article:

RI considering request for extended participation in maritime task force

Japan-ASEAN Friendship Boat in Manila

INQUIRER.net, 09:21:00 11/01/2009

Fuji Maru

MANILA, Philippines—The goodwill ship M/S Fuji Maru will arrive at Pier 13 of the Manila South Harbor on November 12, 2009 for a four-day port-of-call visit as part of the 36th Ship for Southeast Asia Youth Program (SSEAYP), the Japanese embassy said in a statement.

From Yokohama, Japan, where the brand new cruise ship will set sail on November 6, it will visit the Philippines as its first port-of-call in its two-month friendship cruise of Southeast Asia.

The M/S Fuji Maru, which will have on board 350 youth ambassadors, program officials, national leaders, and ship staff including 30 representatives from the Philippines, will then steam toward ports in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Brunei Darussalam before returning to Japan to culminate the 36th SSEAYP.

In each port of call in Southeast Asia, the youth ambassadors will participate in country programs which include home stay and various exchange programs with local people. While cruising, solidarity group activities, club activities, introduction of each country by songs, dances, and videos, as well as lifeboat drills, will keep the participants busy.

The SSEAYP was launched as the joint program among Japan and Asean countries in January 1974. It is sponsored and carried out annually by the government of Japan with the active participation of the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The country program in the Philippines is arranged and organized by the Philippine National Youth Commission.

This program seeks to promote friendship and mutual understanding among youths of Japan and Southeast Asian countries, to broaden their perspectives on the world, as well as to strengthen their motivations and abilities in international cooperation by participating in discussions, introductions of each country, and various exchange activities both onboard the ship and in the countries which they visit.

Indonesia on alert for tsunami drill

BBC News, by Karishma Vaswani, Jakarta

Indonesians are still reeling from the devastating 7.6-magnitude earthquake which struck off the coast of Sumatra last month, killing at least 1,100 people and injuring many more.

However, as efforts shift from rescuing survivors to rebuilding the provincial capital, Padang, and outlying villages, some people have already begun to discuss whether the country is sufficiently prepared for another natural disaster.

Now a tsunami drill being held on Wednesday in 18 countries around the Indian Ocean rim aims to test the responses of local authorities and the public.

Experts are agreed that another powerful earthquake could hit the area anytime in the near future.

But they are unsure if the Indonesian emergency response teams are equipped to react quickly and effectively to a crisis on a similar scale.

The country's National Disaster Management Agency has acknowledged that it was too slow to respond to the Sumatra earthquake, which brought down hospitals, schools and shopping malls, cut power lines and triggered landslides.

"On the first day, it was just pure panic," Priyo Kardono, a spokesman for the agency, told the BBC.

"We couldn't contact our colleagues in Padang because they were affected by the disaster. It's human nature to save your family first in these circumstances. But everyone needs to evaluate their readiness and response to emergencies like these," he added.

Public response

The panic in Padang saw the city's airport closed for 12 crucial hours - an important window during which the authorities could have sent much-needed emergency rescue and relief teams to the area.

In 2004, the only warning most people had was the sight of a giant wave

The head of the Indonesian Seismological Agency, Fauzi, says that was because many of the airport workers rushed home to check on their families.

"Padang airport was abandoned shortly after the earthquake, because the workers were scared," he adds. "We urgently need systems in place to test the public's response to disasters like this, to see how they will react."

Garnering information about the responses of both the authorities and the public is one of the aims of Wednesday's tsunami drill.

Exercise Indian Ocean Wave 09 will simulate the 9.2-magnitude earthquake which struck off the north-western coast of Sumatra in 2004, triggering a tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people in 11 countries, more than half of them in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

Held on World Disaster Reduction Day, the exercise will be the first ocean-wide test of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWS), set up by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) the following year.

When the tsunami struck five years ago, the only warning most people in the region had was the sight of a giant wave heading towards them.

Unlike the Pacific, the Indian Ocean did not have a system to alert residents of coastal areas that a tsunami was imminent.

Shortly after last month's earthquake in Sumatra, an alert was quickly broadcast warning people in low-lying coastal areas of the possibility of another tsunami and ordering them to evacuate to higher ground. It was eventually lifted, however, as a tsunami did not materialise.

Vital co-operation

Unesco is helping to organise Wednesday's tsunami exercise. According to the UN agency, it will be the first time that the IOTWS will be tested worldwide.

Spokeswoman Sue Williams says one of the major challenges has been to get all the countries who signed up to the system to share data.

"The countries have to share their data otherwise this system won't work," she explains.

"If a tsunami is generated off the coast of Indonesia and is on its way to Africa - then African authorities need to have data about the wave at the source, where it began its journey. That means sharing seismic data and maps - and that was a very important part of the discussions and negotiations we had before we signed this agreement."

Another major challenge is getting the information about a potential tsunami out to people in the coastal areas, Ms Williams says.

"The instruments that are used to measure seismic activity and tsunami activity are in the water - the thing to watch is what happens on the beach," she adds.

"We've seen that national authorities can get the message out about a potential tsunami very quickly, but getting the message out to the communities on the coast is a completely different challenge."

"If the fault line of the earthquake is very close to the coast - the way it was in Aceh - then people have only got a few minutes to act," she warns.

Equipment shortage

The Indonesian government wants to deliver tsunami alerts to its citizens and those most at risk from the destructive wave within five minutes of an underwater earthquake in the region.

But experts say that will not be achieved until the country has installed at least 22 buoys, 120 tide gauges and 160 seismographs in its waters.

So far, according to the Indonesian Seismological Agency, it only has 14 buoys, 60 tide gauges and 150 seismographs.

The system is expected to be fully completed by 2010, but is already operational. Much of the funding for it has come from international donors, including Germany, Japan and China.

Wednesday's test will therefore determine whether the Indonesian authorities have spent that money wisely, and whether people are prepared for another catastrophe.

Related Articles:

Colossal quake may hit Sumatra within 30 years: geologist

Aceh Tsunami Drills Open Old Wounds

Survey shows many collapsed buildings in Padang were poorly constructed

Are Indonesia, Samoa and Vanuatu Quakes Linked?

Vietnam Eyes Significant Orders At Dubai Seafood Show

Bernama, by Muin Abdul Majid

DUBAI, Oct 3 (Bernama) -- Vietnam, which is aiming to export US$4 billion worth of seafood this year, hopes to secure significant orders at the upcoming Dubai Seafood Expo 2009.

Under the umbrella of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (Vasep), a total of 11 Vietnamese seafood exporters are set to showcase their high quality products at the event.

Its Deputy General Secretary, Nguyen Hoai Nam, said players in the Vietnamese fisheries sector were taking major strides in improving product quality and ensuring continuous double shipments to demanding markets such as the Middle East, East Europe, Africa and South America.

They are also not forgetting traditional markets like China, United States, European Union, Japan, Canada and South Korea, said Nguyen ahead of the three-day seafood show beginning Oct 12 in Madinat Jumeirah here.

Vietnam, a member of Asean, which groups 10 Southeast Asian nations, is further aiming to boost its exports of various items, including frozen seafood, such as Pangasius fillet, shrimp, Cephalopus and marine fish.

In 2008, Vietnam recorded US$62.3 million in seafood exports to the Middle East, including US$28.8 million to the United Arab Emirates, according to Vasep.

Fisheries export is being positioned as the nation's fourth largest hard currency earner.

Organised by Orange Fairs & Events, the seafood show attracts participants from other Asean members like Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

Chinese general warns of more territorial disputes

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press | Mon, 03/30/2009 2:13 PM

The global financial crisis is increasing competition for marine resources and could aggravate territorial disputes in the South China Sea, a Chinese general said Monday.

Along with rich fishing grounds, the South China Sea is believed to have large oil and natural gas reserves. The disputed island groups also straddle busy sea lanes that are a crucial to China's economy.

China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines have overlapping claims to all or parts of South China Sea island groups and the waters that surround them.

Air force Lt. Gen. Liu Chengjun called for stepped-up dialogue among the claimants to keep disputes from spinning out of control. Territorial conflicts in the South China Sea have occasionally broken out into armed confrontation, although the countries have more recently sought to resolve differences peacefully.

"The economic crisis is putting pressure on regional stability and could increase territorial disputes," Liu said. "Faced with this possibility, we need to increase dialogue and cooperation."

Liu was speaking at the opening ceremony of a weeklong forum in Beijing featuring top military brass from China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Several members of the association have laid claim to island groups that Beijing disputes.

In recent weeks, Beijing has issued a flurry of diplomatic protests over such disputes and dispatched a converted navy ship to reassert its claims.

The global economic crisis has put millions out of work in China and across east Asia, worsening financial concerns in countries already struggling with vast numbers of poor and threatening large scale social unrest.

Liu said economic desperation was among the factors increasing competition for marine resources - and the potential for clashes. Threats ranging from piracy and transnational crime to the effects of climate change also increased the need for regional cooperation, he said.

The Beijing conference, which includes a visit to an armored division outside the Chinese capital, underscores recent efforts by the traditionally secretive Chinese armed forces to raise their international profile through joint exercises, port calls and participation in United Nations peacekeeping missions.