Coast Guard to Build Early Warning System in 35 Outermost Spots

TheIndonesia.id - Indonesia’s Maritime Security Agency, or Bakamla, has announced that it will develop early warning system in 35 outermost regions across the country.

Chief of Bakamla Vice Admiral Aan Kurnia said the plan is part of the effort to enhance safeguarding of Indonesia’s territorial waters.

“In total, there will be 35 spots of early warning system to establish, including in South Buru regency [Maluku province] and Toli-Toli regency [Central Sulawesi province],” Kurnia said during the signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the project between Bakamla and local governments of South Buru and Toli-Toli in Jakarta on Wednesday, January 19.

Besides fulfilling the commitment to ensure the safety and security of the sea, the Indonesian coast guard wants the early warning systems to, more specifically, protect the country’s outermost regions, both from internal and external threats.

According to Kurnia, it’s a multiyear project and will be completed gradually.

In the occasion, regents of South Buru and Toli-Toli said the regencies are prepared for and will fully support the project. The cooperation between the central institution and local governments will also include the empowerment of coastal communities and exchange of maritime information.

The coast guard has repeatedly reiterated its focus to protect Indonesia’s outermost regions. In December, Kurnia confirmed that safeguarding the Natuna waters in Riau Islands will remain a priority in 2022.

The North Natuna Sea, or also known as the South China Sea, is one of the outermost areas and the most disputed waters in Indonesia. According to the 1982 United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNLCOS), Indonesia has sovereign rights over the EEZ, but the Chinese government also claims that it’s part of their territory.

Illegal fishing by foreign vessels also continues to happen in the Natuna waters. At the end of 2021, Bakamla seized a Vietnamese-flagged fishing vessel for illegally fishing in North Natuna Sea, Riau Islands province. Bakamla’s KN Pulau Dana-323 captured the foreign vessel during a patrol duty on Friday, December 24, 2021.

And on January 11, 2022, the Indonesian Navy captured three foreign fishing vessels with Vietnamese flags while catching fish in the North Natuna Sea.