Warships deployed close to disputed territory

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Navy has deployed three warships to disputed waters where the Malaysian government has granted oil production sharing contracts.

"Yes, we have certainly deployed three Navy vessels to the area, but that does not mean there is tension between the two countries," DPA news agency quoted Lt. Col. Guntur Wahyudi, spokesman for Indonesia's Eastern Fleet (Armatim).

Wahyudi explained that the deployment of the warships was aimed at safeguarding waters close to Sipadan and Ligitan islands, off the eastern coast of East Kalimantan province, bordering Malaysia.

He said the Indonesian Navy has merely been conducting routine, round-the-clock patrols in the area.

In addition to the Navy vessels, the Indonesian military has also deployed two Nomad maritime aircraft to conduct reconnaissance for possible incursions into Indonesian territory, including airspace violations by foreign aircraft, Wahyudi said.

The government of Indonesia last week lodged a protest against a Malaysian oil production sharing contract with Anglo-Dutch giant Royal Dutch Shell in an offshore area Indonesia claims as its own.

The Malaysian government says the area is part of its territory, while Indonesia says that Malaysia's claim was made based on a self-made map from 1979, which is not recognized by the Indonesian government or by most other Southeast Asian countries.

The disputed areas are close to the Sipadan-Ligitan islands, which were awarded to Malaysia by the International Court of Justice in 2003 after a decade-long dispute with Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian government has urged U.S. oil and gas firm Unocal Corp. to continue exploration activities in the disputed area, referred to in Indonesia as the East Ambalat oil and gas block.

Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources director-general of oil and gas Iin Arifin Takhyan said on Tuesday that Indonesia is open to a negotiated settlement of the dispute, but in the meantime "the show must go on."

"There will be further talks with the Malaysian authorities over the oil blocks and we are ready to accept a sharing agreement should there be overlapping areas between the two countries," Iin told reporters.

However, he emphasized that: "Unocal must continue with exploration activities" while the government is preparing for the talks.

The Indonesian government awarded the contract to explore the East Ambalat block to Unocal in November last year.

Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that the two deep-water blocks are Indonesian territory and there is no reason for Unocal not to continue their activities.

"We have granted them the contract, and they should continue with the exploration as mentioned in the agreement. That territory is ours," the minister said earlier on Monday.

The territorial dispute between the two nations comes as Malaysia starts a crackdown against illegal workers who are mainly from Indonesia.