INDONESIAN MARITIME LAW ENFORCEMENT ON COMBATING PIRACY AND ARMS ROBBERY FOR SAFETY AND SECURITY OF NAVIGATION

Safety vs. Security
• The terms are not interchangeable
• Safety is the avoidance of accidents – fortuities brought about by human error, structural or mechanical failure or stress of weather
• Each of these elements can be examined by the use of statistical techniques
• Security is concerned with the detection and suppression of active human malignity
• A terrorist, a pirate, a drug smuggler or a common thief will each study your system and apply their human intelligence to finding your weak spot
• Accidents do not do that
• Modern merchant ships are safer due to efforts over the past two centuries by seamen, engineers, naval architects, ship builders and class societies
• Accidents still happen, but not as often or as severe as in the past
• Many potential accidents have been designed out of the ship as a system
• Ordinary merchant ship of 200 years ago – built by rule of thumb methods, no double bottoms or bulkheads, stability unknown, generally overloaded, at the mercy of wind, navigated by luck, lead, log and lookout – was, by our standards terribly unsafe
• Yet, the ship was armed with guns and cannons and had a large crew trained in their use
• It was a far more secure ship
Safety vs. Security
• Modern merchant ships, from a security point of view, are vulnerable and easy targets
• Small crews that are too busy and fatigued to offer any realistic protection against any persons actively seeking to use the ship for their own purposes
• International Maritime Bureau reports that pirate attacks worldwide rose to 370 in 2001.
• Violent attacks are becoming more frequent
• Merchant ships can no longer rely on the developed world’s navies to keep their ships and crews safe and prevent hijackings
• Methods that are used to pursue safety cannot be used for security
It must be understood that:
• from a security point of view, international shipping can never be made totally safe, regardless of how much money is thrown into security protection
• there is no protection against an ultimate act of terror
• seagoing trade can be disrupted very easily

THE ISSUE

• INDONESIAN as archipelagic state with about 8.6 million km2 sea territory and with the coastal length about 81,000 km is the biggest area among the south east Asian countries, difficult to control and monitor with limitation of facilities, lack of fleet asset patrol and Personnel.

• INDONESIAN MARINE SECURITY COORDINATION quite a lot, difficult to coordinate among them, each institution has their own limited budget and fleet asset, and this situation give an advantage to arms robbery and pirates groups.

• The new structure of Indonesian Maritime Security Coordination Agency has been propose to have Presidential Decree, The Chairman of the agency is Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs.
• Lead by Navy as focal point and the agencies coordinating such Sea Comm/KPLP, Custom, Marine Police, and Department of Marine affairs and fisheries.
• Under this new structure, the whole agencies will be coordinated on Combating Piracy and Arms Robbery against ship, and respond for all maritime security threats.


Limitation of budget for continuous patrol and fleet asset maintenance give an advantage for piracy group.


• According to UNCLOS 1982 article 101 the definition of “piracy” consist of the following acts:
( a ). Any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
( i ) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against person or property on board such ship or aircraft;
( ii ) against a ship, aircraft, person or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state
( b ) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or an aircraft, with knowledge of facts making it pirate ship or aircraft;
( c ) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b)

• So far there is no definitions agreed to arms robbery against ship, among the contracting government except the only IMO definitions for “Arms Robbery against ship means any unlawfull act of violence or detention or any act of depredation, or threat thereof, other than an act of “piracy” directed against ship or against persons or property on board such a ship, within a state’s jurisdiction over such offences” by MSC at Circulation 984 (MSC/Circ.984).
• Unfair Remarkable, “IMO and IMB have their own definition for whole security incident occurred along of Malacca Straits, Bangka Straits, Gelasa Straits and at Indonesian Ports are Piracy and arms robbery.


PROPOSAL TO SUPPRESS PIRACY AND ARMS ROBBERY ALONG MALACCA STRAITS, BANGKA AND GELASA.

- Provide Indonesian Maritime Law Enforcement with a fleet of Patrol Boat for 365 days a year for operations along of those Straits.
- Or
- Allowed Indonesian to provide PILOT and Arms guard on board every vessel plying those straits, as a services to assist safety and security of Navigation along those straits.
- Why….???
- About 621 mile long straits of Malacca with narrow channels and shallow reefs made slow traffic to the 900 big and small commercial vessel can be a pirate’s dream.
- The Collision, Grounding, oil spill and Piracy in the area has historically been a regular occurrence.
- UNCLOS 1982 article 41, 42, 43, 44 while International community enjoys the benefit of the waterway through the Malacca straits, Indonesia and Malaysia are left with the burden of financing Navigational safety measures and bear the consequences of oil spill or other shipping disaster.
- Indonesia and Malaysia believe that transit rights for all countries ship, through the straits can not be absolute given, that their own security could be at risk from major accident, and there is 30 accident average per year.
- More than 200 vessel every day plying in the Malacca strait, one third of them are tankers. The ladden VLCC and product tankers normally eastbound transit.
- The crowdest and high marine traffic area in the world, with the high potential for collision and grounding or oil spill or even bigger disaster such nuclear warship accident.
- Need to establish integrated system such vessel traffic surveillance, information exchange and two way direct communication between ship and ISC or reporting point in the area. For Safe Navigation and Secure from pirates threats.
- Piloting and Arms Guard on board will be planned and implemented for EASTBOUND LANE for every ship by Indonesian SeaCom to assist shipping lines in safe navigation and secure from pirates threats.
- INDONESIA need affirmative support from all state parties and shipping community in the world to provide Malacca straits Pilot and Arms guard for Safe Navigation and Secure Navigation from the Pirates threats.