Indonesia And 174 Maritime Countries Discuss Ship Safety Equipment

Photo: Doc. Antara

JAKARTA - Indonesia and 174 world maritime countries discussed the issue of ship safety systems and equipment at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Sub Committee on Ship System and Equipment (SSE) session in London, England.

The Indonesian Embassy in London Transportation Attache, who is also the Permanent Representative to Replace Indonesia for the IMO Barkah Bayu Mirajaya in an official statement in Jakarta, Monday, March 4, said that Indonesia as a member of the Category C IMO Council is committed to continuing to show its active role as one of the largest archipelagic countries in the world.

"Those who consistently provide input and contribute in every IMO session to fight for national interests in the world's marine transportation sector," Barkah said, quoted from Antara.

He conveyed this at the 10th IMO SSE session on March 4-8 2024 at the IMO Headquarter, London England.

The 10th SSE session was opened by IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez and chaired by U. Senturk from Turkey, Vice Chairman, C. Aliperta from Palau which was attended by representatives from 175 IMO member countries, Associate Member IMO, Observer from Intergovernmental and Non-Governmental who specifically discussed Ship Safety Systems and Equipment.

According to Barkah, the 10th SSE session is interesting because of several discussions on ship safety system and equipment issues that need attention from the Government of Indonesia as well as several other issues such as the issue of safety of transporting lithium battery cargo/cargoes.

In addition, it also discusses new requirements for improving safety for live boats and rescue boats, improving fire protection systems, inspection and testing procedures for safety equipment and technology to reduce the risk of ships transporting new energy such as batteries.

"Of course, technical discussion with this issue is a concern from Indonesia because it strongly supports efforts to improve and optimize the system as well as ship safety equipment so that ships sailing in any waters can implement the same safety standards," said Barkah.

However, Indonesia must also ensure that the ship's safety system and equipment which will later be set as a standard by the IMO will not be burdensome for shipping entrepreneurs, especially for the operation of Indonesian-flagged ships.

"What will be discussed and approved by the Sub Committee Session will be brought to the discussion of the Committee before it is decided in the Council Session. The role of Indonesia ensures that the results of the Sub Committee session are in line and in favor of national interests," he said.

Therefore, he continued, the Indonesian delegation was active in providing positive, effective and efficient input so that when implemented it would not burden shipping entrepreneurs as well as ship operators, especially Indonesian-flagged ships.

The inputs from Indonesia are contained in the intervention submitted by the Indonesian delegation, which is also a form of commitment and responsibility of the Directorate General of Sea Transportation as Maritime Administrator in Indonesia which is recognized by IMO.

Maritime Administration in Indonesia is mandated to the Director General of Sea Transportation, Ministry of Transportation in accordance with what has been mandated in Presidential Regulation number 23 of 2022 article 45 paragraph (1). So that all maritime activities and in particular those related to the implementation of the IMO Convention must be reported to IMO through the Directorate General of Sea Transportation," he said.

The 10th IMO Sub Committee SSE session is a sub-commissioned hearing that handles technical and operational issues of systems and equipment on all types of ships such as "ship", "vessel", "craft" and "mobile units" contained in the IMO instrument, including ship safety equipment, fire detection systems and fire extinguishers.