Bakamla Proposes Rules For Snaring Foreign Ships To Do Illegal Activities

JAKARTA - Head of the Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) Vice Admiral (Laksdya) TNI Aan Kurnia advised Commission I of the DPR to roll out a policy to ensnare foreign ships carrying out illegal activities in Indonesian waters, ranging from transferring illegal goods to tricking AIS data (automatic identification system).

"This may be our advice to the leadership and gentlemen, these dear ones of Commission I may be discussed because otherwise our waters will be harassed, and we cannot arrest or prosecute those who commit violations like this to court because there are no rules," said Aan in a working meeting with Commission I DPR reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, September 5.

He conveyed this in view of the incident of the arrest of the Iranian-flagged supertanker ship, MT Arman 114, which carried out illegal activities in Indonesia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) last July, but Bakamla was unable to ensnare the law in this case.

"What is very concerning is that we cannot get caught in the law because our rules are still weak," he said.

In fact, he continued, the ship carrying crude oil cargo worth IDR 4.6 trillion carried out oil-fueled transportation without permission to other Cameroon-flagged foreign supertankers, MT S Tinos.

He said the ship also carried out AIS data ports so that it seemed as if the ship was in foreign waters, namely the Red Sea, even though the ship was sailing in Indonesian waters.

Including, he continued, the ship did not heed the warning from Bakamla to stop during the pursuit until it was finally assisted by the Malaysian Maritime Strengthening Agency (APMM) when the ship had entered Malaysian waters.

"The problem with the AIS is cheating, then transaction in our area, then it is stopped, it doesn't want to stop, there are no rules that can ensnare," he said.

Aan also regretted that in the end Bakamla was only able to ensnare the ship for its actions in disposing of oil waste (dumping) into Indonesian waters.

"Finally, all we can snare is the pollution, the others can't, there are no rules," he said.