When 17 Patrol Ships, Including Warships Deployed To Guard The Indonesian Borders

Head of Bakamla Laksdya TNI Aan Kurnia checks the readiness of personnel who will take part in Joint Patrol activities (ANTARA/Yude)

JAKARTA - Bakamla fielded 17 patrol boats to guard three Indonesian border areas in the 2022 National Maritime Security and Safety Joint Patrol activities.

The Head of Bakamla, Laksdya TNI Aan Kurnia in Batam, stated that this joint patrol activity involved 200 personnel from the Navy (AL), Water and Air Police (Polairud), Marine and Fishery Resources Supervision (PSDKP), Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DJBC) and the Marine and Coast Guard Unit (KPLP).

"For the first joint patrol, this involves 17 ships consisting of the State Ship (KN) and the Republic of Indonesia Warship (KRI), seven from Bakamla and from each institution preparing two ships," said Aan after inaugurating the opening of the Patrol. Together at Bintang 99 Harbor, Batu Ampar, Tuesday, August 23, quoted from Antara.

Aan explained that this activity was carried out on the basis of an order from the President of the Republic of Indonesia which was contained in Government Regulation (PP) Number 13 of 2022, reinforced by the Decree of the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security (Menkopolhukam) Number 74 of 2022 concerning the National Patrol Plan.

“This activity will be held for two months, so it will end in mid-October. For this first patrol, the focus is on the Malacca Strait, Singapore Strait and North Kalimantan," he said.

The target of this joint patrol, said Aan, is to reduce the level of illegal activities in Indonesian waters so that marine users feel more comfortable doing activities at sea.

“There are various types of crimes that occur in the waters here. In the Singapore strait, it is like the theft of foreign ships, in the Malacca Strait there are illegal TKI," he said.

He hopes that with this joint patrol activity, all parties can be more coordinated and all threats and illegal activities can be further reduced or even eliminated.

"But because it's the first time, we need evaluation and input from each participating agency and the people who work at sea," he said.