RI Asks For IMO Member State Support To Make Lombok Strait PSSA

Atmosphere of International Focus Group Discussion (FGD) Preparation for Submission of PSSA Lombok Strait Documents in Bali. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Transportation

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government through the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) has asked for the support of member countries of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to make the Lombok Strait a sensitive marine area or partially sensitive sea area (PSSA).

"We hope to get the support, input and views of IMO member countries and neighboring countries that have an interest in the Lombok Strait," said Secretary of the Directorate General of Sea Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) Lollan Panjaitan as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, June 5.

Lollan conveyed that the Ministry of Transportation is proposing the determination of the Lombok Strait, which is flanked by conservation areas, namely Nusa Penida and Gili Matra islands, as very sensitive marine areas or partially sensitive sea areas (PSSA).

He said this was a form of Indonesia's active role and commitment in protecting the maritime environment.

"This proposal for determination is planned to be submitted at the 82nd International Maritime Organization (IMO)-Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) session from September 30 to October 4, 2024," explained Lollan.

He emphasized the importance of determining the Lombok Strait as PSSA as a form of Indonesia's responsibility to play an active role in protecting the maritime environment as a member of the IMO as well as a member of the IMO Council for the 2024-2025 period.

This effort to propose the Lombok Strait as PSSA, according to him, has been started since 2016 through a proposal submitted by the Government of Indonesia at the Third Regional Meeting of IMO-NORAD Project on Prevention of pollution from ships through the addition of PSSAs in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

This effort was then continued with the submission of Information Paper in the 71st IMO-Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) Session in 2017.

The Lombok plate is proposed as PSSA because of its strategic location, as well as the fact that the area is home to more than 2000 species of marine animals, including six of the seven species of marine turtles protected in the world, he explained.

Lollan is optimistic that the determination of the PSSA Lombok Strait can become a Pilot Project for the determination of other potential conservation areas in Indonesia.

This, according to him, is in accordance with the IMO A.982(24) Resolution regarding the Revised Guidelines for the identification and design of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas, which is the basis for determining various PSSAs in the world, and is in line with Indonesia's commitment to protecting the maritime environment.

According to him, the determination of PSSA by IMO can be a mechanism that can be used by coastal countries to protect marine areas that are considered vulnerable to the negative impact of international shipping activities.

"I hope that this effort can further show Indonesia's seriousness in protecting the marine environment and fulfilling various IMO conventions and instruments, both at the national, regional and international levels," explained Lollan.

He added that for the finalization of the Lombok Strait Submission document as PSSA, the Ministry of Transportation had held a National FGD in May.

Then, his party continued the International FGD Preparation for the PSSA Lombok Strait Document Submission which was held in Bali, Tuesday, June 4.

The International FGD invites representatives of IMO member countries in Jakarta, and other maritime countries that have interests in the Lombok Strait such as Japan, China, Australia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, as well as East Timor, as well as relevant ministries/agencies and stakeholders.

"We also hope to get technical input from experts to prepare an assessment that will be carried out by IMO," said Lollan.

At this International FGD, Lollan explained, his party presented three experts related to PSSA. The first is Edward Kleverlaan who once served as Head of the London Convention and Protocol Office at IMO, Head of the Conservation Team for the Amerh Hakim KKP Area, and researchers from the Surabaya Institute of Technology (ITS).

PSSA is a very sensitive marine area that requires special protection through regulations or actions from the IMO because it has ecological, socio-economic conditions, or scientific reasons that can easily be damaged by international shipping activities.

The proposal to determine the PSSA Lombok Strait was first carried out through the PSSA Selat Lombok IMO and the Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD) Project (2014-2017), in which in this Project there are four countries that propose to determine one of their marine areas as PSSAs, namely the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Indonesia proposes the determination of PSSA Selat Lombok, especially the Gili Islands and Nusa Penida Islands at the 3rd Regional Meeting of IMO-NORAD Project on Prevention of Pollution from ships through the addition of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs) within the East Asian Seas Region, which was held in Lombok in July 2016.

Indonesia has firmly proposed PSSA Selat Lombok in the form of Information Paper through the document MEPC 71/INF.39 at the 71st Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in 2017.

Currently, Indonesia has prepared a submission document for determining the PSSA Selat Lombok in accordance with the IMO Guidelines, but it is necessary to strengthen proposals, especially regarding the distribution section to further convince the urgency of determining the Lombok Strait as PSSA.