Maritime studies

Maritime studies

A historical phenomenon in the life of the state seldom occurs
single-handedly or isolated, but instead is interrelated to
another conspicuous occurrence. Following the rise of Abdurrahman
Wahid as the fourth President of the republic, there never has
been such a high sounding and thought inspiring pledge uttered in
respect of the high expectation to see Indonesia return to its
historical repute as a "seafaring nation". Such a pledge is
opportune on the brink of the new millennium.

Appearing at 6 a.m. on SCTV on Oct. 31, 1999, Minister of
Maritime Exploration Sarwono Kusumaatmadja pronounced his
determination to enforce the laws governing the protection of the
seas' natural living resources under Indonesia's sovereign
rights. Too many living resources are being clandestinely caught
by foreign vessels, estimating an annual loss of US$4 billion,
compared to the national yield of fish at $2.2 billion per year.

Ever since the Indonesian government under the Djuanda Cabinet
issued in 1958 its renowned Declaration on the application of the
archipelagic system of the Indonesian seas by drawing straight
baselines along the contours of the archipelago, there was never
a significant implementation of the archipelagic system in terms
of protection of the seas' living resources other than for
purposes of international navigation.

A milestone in Indonesian maritime law was laid down by the
past government with Mochtar Kusumaatmadja as foreign minister,
the "Father" of the Indonesian law of the seas, when the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea of Montego Bay, Jamaica, was
signed on Dec. 10, 1982, which Indonesia ratified.

Among the salient new legal regimes of the Montego Bay
Convention were those on Archipelagic States, the Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) and the novel aspect of the concept of the
Continental Shelf.

The peculiar feature characterizing the application of the new
regimes on the law of the sea in the Indonesian scene was that
the concepts, in effect, merely reflected the rise of legal
consciousness and the concomitant political recognition
respecting the related spheres.

However, as far as the implementation of the concepts is
concerned, particularly in regard to the exploration and
exploitation of the seas' living resources, this obviously
remains a generally neglected area.

From the academic society, members such as the Association of
Experts on Maritime Technology of Indonesia (HATMI) and the
Faculty of Oceanographic Studies of Dharma Persada University,
made contributions to their common spheres of interest
respectively by a symposium on the Activation of Shipping and
Maritime Industry in meeting national demands held in April 1999
and a seminar in September 1999. As usual, no meaningful support
or reaction appeared from the government branches concerned.

With the emergence of the new pledge demonstrated by the
President himself and under the new Ministry of Maritime
Exploration, it is anticipated that in elementary and secondary
schools, the subject of maritime studies will be introduced.

As an area of national undertaking, the seas within the
Indonesian archipelago provide tremendously rich potential and
opportunities.

It must be recalled that Indonesia is the largest archipelago
in the world, meaning that it embraces a large expanse of sea
above the Continental Shelf and within the extent of the EEZ,
including their seabeds and subsoil, with their living and
nonliving resources and minerals.

S. SUHAEDI

Jakarta