Eastern fleet commander replaced

JAKARTA: Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Slamet Soebijanto on Friday installed Rear Adm. Waldi Murat as the new commander of the Eastern Fleet, replacing Rear Adm. Yosafat Didi H. Purnomo.

Yosafat will fill a new post in the Indonesian Military (TNI) headquarters as the assistant to TNI chief of general affairs for electronic communications affairs.

Slamet said the change of guard took place when the Navy was moving to improve the professionalism of its personnel.

"We are facing a lot of difficulties, but this should not be an excuse to shirk our duties," Slamet said.

Despite Indonesia being an archipelagic nation, the Indonesian Navy is considered among the weakest due to insufficient resources and inadequate equipment. -- Antara