More countries to patrol Malacca Strait
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta
Four more countries have expressed interest in joining the coordinated patrols launched recently by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore to stamp out piracy in the Strait of Malacca.
Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Bernard Kent Sondakh said on Friday cooperation arrangements with fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries the Philippines, Thailand and Brunei, as well as ASEAN Regional Forum partner India, would be further discussed.
Bernard said he had met with Thailand's three top security officials two days after Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore officially launched Malsindo, a 24/7 year-round operation, on July 22 in Batam, Riau.
"With the consent of the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief (Gen. Endriartono Sutarto), I visited Thailand and met with that country's minister of defense, military commander and navy chief to discuss a possible cooperation in guarding the strait.
"The deal is almost done, and we are now considering arrangements on what kinds of military equipment will be deployed and which sea territory will be guarded by Thailand's navy," Bernard said on the sidelines of an unveiling for three new Navy patrol boats
The boats, the KRI Boa 807, KRI Welang 808 and KRI Taliwangsa 870, will be stationed at Tanjung Uban Port in Riau and Belawan Port in Medan, North Sumatra.
The vessels, which cost Rp 12 billion (US$1.3 million) each, will join seven other Navy vessels patrolling the Strait of Malacca.
The ceremony on Friday took place just outside of Jakarta Bay, with all of the Navy's top brass on board the KRI Tanjung Dalpele warship.
Bernard said he planned to meet with officers from Brunei's navy to assure them the coordinated patrols were not aimed at establishing a defense pact.
"My colleagues in Brunei may be suspicious that the coordinated patrols will become a new form of defense pact, and I will explain the Malsindo project to them before they whether to join us," Bernard said.
He had also arranged a meeting with top navy officials from India and the Philippines, where he hopes to discuss the growing problem of smuggling in the waters of the Philippines.
The coordinated patrols in one of the world's busiest waterways followed a remark by Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander of the Honolulu-based United States Pacific Command, who told the U.S. Congress that partnership among countries in the Asia- Pacific region would enhance maritime security.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. has also expressed concern over the possibility of terrorists using the Strait of Malacca to launch attacks, with the help of local pirates.
If such an attack were to take place, the global economy would likely suffer a major blow because the strait, linking the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea, is among the most important shipping lanes in the world.
According to data, more than 50,000 commercial ships carrying more than one-third of the global trade and one-half of the world's crude oil pass through the strait each year.
In 2003 alone, there were 28 pirate attacks in the strait, most of them in Indonesian waters.
After almost three weeks of coordinated patrols, the navies of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have arrested two groups of pirates from the Philippines and South Korea.
Bernard, however, complained about communication problems facing soldiers in the field due to the poor quality of their equipment.