Indonesia, Philippines And Japan Discuss How To Overcome Oil Pollution In The Sea

Director General of Sea Transportation Arif Toha (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Transportation)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation through the Directorate General of Sea Transportation in an effort to tackle oil pollution at sea, conducts joint exercises with the Philippines and Japan every two years or known as the Regional Marine Pollution Exercise (Marpolex).

Director General of Sea Transportation Arif Toha expressed his appreciation to the countries of the Philippines and Japan in this case the Philippines Coast Guard and the Japan Coast Guard for their participation in this 2024 Marpolex training preparation activity.

"I express my gratitude and highest appreciation to the Philippines Coast Guard and the Japan Coast Guard for their continuous cooperation and support, especially during the Regional Sea Pollution Exercise in Makassar last year in 2022," he said in an official statement, written Wednesday, July 26.

Furthermore, Arif said that although the Marpolex Region in 2022 was held with the challenges of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this activity received extraordinary recognition from both the government and stakeholders in Indonesia for its success and success.

Therefore, we also need to provide the best efforts and support to the Philippines Coast Guard as the next host of the Marpolex Regional. The full support of the Directorate General of Sea Transportation, in this case KPLP, to the Philippines Coast Guard, is to be successful in this exercise next year," said Arif.

Arif also expressed his appreciation to the Japan Coast Guard for his involvement in the exercise and for his high attention to the protection of the marine environment in Sulu waters and Sulawesi waters, especially regarding the prevention of oil pollution and actively joining every regional exercise organized by Indonesia and the Philippines.

The Regional Sea Pollution Exercise is based on the 1981 Sulu-Sulawesi Oil Spill Response Network Plan with the main aim of testing and evaluating the response capability of the Philippine and Indonesian oil spills.

"Therefore, it is hoped that the Japan Coast Guard can officially be included in the Memorandum of Understanding of the North Sulawesi Sea Oil Supply Network Plan, as we know that Japan is also involved in protecting the marine environment in the Malacca Strait and Singapore," Arif hoped.

Furthermore, Arif said that Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan have the same concern about how massive the impact of the oil spill disaster in the sea is, which of course requires preparedness and emergency response capabilities to combat oil pollution that has the potential to occur in the sea.

Therefore, continued Arif, oil pollution prevention exercises in the sea which are carried out jointly every two years need to be carried out.

We are gathered here to discuss the script for the Exercise Plan compiled by the Philippines Coast Guard to get a better training plan. Furthermore, after the Training Plan was signed by the three Delegation Chairs of this conference, this Exercise Plan must be a guide in preparing, checking, sending, and then implementing everything that has been planned for training, "concluded Arif.

Meanwhile, Elected Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco expressed his support for what was done in this Maporlex Regional activity to provide an opportunity to share views and knowledge.

This includes providing the best experience to improve methods and quick response in tackling oil spill disasters, as well as to increase cooperation and commitment in protecting the maritime environment.

"I convey that this activity can be planned and coordinated and synergized so that this 2024 Marpolex Regional activity can run well and useful for participating countries and not only in this region but also in other regions," said Arsenio.

For information, the Ministry of Transportation cq. The Directorate General of Sea Transportation through the Directorate of Marine and Coast Guard Units (KPLP) together with the Philippine Coast Guard (Philippines Coast Guard) and the Japan Coast Guard (Japan Coast Guard) will sign a joint training document for the prevention of oil pollution in the sea known as the Regional Marine Poluttion Exercise (Marpolex) in 2024 today, Wednesday, July 26, 2023.

The signing will be carried out in Bali by the Director of KPLP, Rivolindo representing Indonesia, Delegation Chairperson of the Philippines Coast Guard, Vice Admiral Robert Npatrimonia representing the Philippines and Delegation Chairperson of the Japan Coast Guard, Capt. Sase Koichi witnessed directly by the elected Secretary General of IMO.