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Naval hospital ship KRI Dr Soeharso |
Several ship crews carry aid into KM Labobar ship at Teluk Bayur port in Padang, West Sumatra, on Friday. Bad weather had hampered distribution of aid and volunteers from Jakarta and Padang to tsunami-hit Mentawai Islands. (JP / Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)
A Kri Kakra-class submarine of Indonesia on a test run after a revamp by South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering at Okpo 21 February 2006. Indonesia has 2 submarines but hopes to buy 10 more. (AFP Photo/DSME)
Singapore. Indonesia plans to increase the size of its submarine fleet over the next two years to defend its territory as well as protect international shipping lanes, its defense minister said on Saturday.
Purnomo Yusgiantoro also told Reuters the country was discussing buying 10 more C-130 military transport aircraft from Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) but had not come to any agreement. Indonesia currently has two submarines.
Singapore put out a warning earlier this year about possible attacks on ships in the Malacca Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes that lies between the city state, Indonesia and Malaysia and carries about 40 percent of global trade.
“We have several countries that we think are able to supply them (submarines). We want to make sure that it would be compatible to our needs as well as our sea (conditions),” Yusgiantoro said in an interview on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialog security conference in Singapore.
“They are very important in order for us to guard sea lanes. We are going to have that in a couple of years,” he said, without giving further details.
Yusgiantoro also said the government had earmarked funds in this year’s budget to modernize some of its 32 C-130s.
“We can use that (plane) not only to bring troops, but also for humanitarian missions. We are ready to buy but we are still in discussions with the seller.”
Indonesia set aside 42 trillion rupiah ($4.6 billion) in 2010 for defense spending, with most earmarked for operating expenditure for its 550,000-strong military force.
The country plans to boost its defense spending up to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2014 from about 0.7-0.8 percent in 2010, among the lowest in the region.
Yusgiantoro held a meeting with U.S. defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday, which he characterised as “very good”.
Indonesia is currently working to improve its military ties with the United States, including removing a ban on military training for its special forces, put in place over rights abuses blamed on elite troops.
“I think things will become more positive,” Yusgiantoro said, but he did not comment on when the ban was likely to be removed.
Yusgiantoro, a Catholic minister in the world’s most populous Muslim country, said his nation’s defense ties with Washington were akin to a marriage, which could be rocky at times.
“I don’t see any problem with our cooperation. But you know you always have little things going on, something like little arguments between you and your wife after she found a picture of another girl in your pocket,” he said.
Reuters
Reuters, By Harry Suhartono and Nopporn Wong-Anan, Sat Jun 5, 2010 10:27am EDT
SINGAPORE, June 5 (Reuters) - Indonesia plans to increase the size of its submarine fleet over the next two years to defend its territory as well as protect international shipping lanes, its defence minister said on Saturday.
Purnomo Yusgiantoro also told Reuters the country was discussing buying 10 more C-130 military transport aircraft from Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) but had not come to any agreement.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago with more than 17,000 islands, lies across shipping lanes between the Indian and Pacific oceans as well as between Asia and Australia, heavily used for transporting commodities and energy. It currently has two submarines.
Singapore put out a warning earlier this year about possible attacks on ships in the Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes that lies between the city state, Indonesia and Malaysia and carries about 40 percent of global trade. [ID:nSGE62409F]
"We have several countries that we think are able to supply them (submarines). We want to make sure that it would be compatible to our needs as well as our sea (conditions)," Yusgiantoro said in an interview on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore.
"They are very important in order for us to guard sea lanes. We are going to have that in a couple of years," he said, without giving further details.
Yusgiantoro also said the government had earmarked funds in this year's budget to modernise some of its 32 C-130s.
"We can use that (plane) not only to bring troops, but also for humanitarian missions. We are ready to buy but we are still in discussions with the seller."
Indonesia set aside 42 trillion rupiah ($4.6 billion) in 2010 for defence spending, with most earmarked for operating expenditure for its 550,000-strong military force.
The country plans to boost its defence spending up to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2014 from about 0.7-0.8 percent in 2010, among the lowest in the region.
Yusgiantoro held a meeting with U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Friday, which he characterised as "very good".
Indonesia is currently working to improve its military ties with the United States, including removing a ban on military training for its special forces, put in place over rights abuses blamed on elite troops.
"I think things will become more positive," Yusgiantoro said, but he did not comment on when the ban was likely to be removed.
Yusgiantoro, a Catholic minister in the world's most populous Muslim country, said his nation's defence ties with Washington were akin to a marriage, which could be rocky at times.
"I don't see any problem with our cooperation. But you know you always have little things going on, something like little arguments between you and your wife after she found a picture of another girl in your pocket," he said.
Antara News, Tuesday, May 4, 2010 21:06 WIB
Surabaya, E Java (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL) and Australian Navy (RAN) elements grouped in the Cassoex-10 Task Force left for East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) on Tuesday to conduct a joint exercise.
The Indonesian Navy`s KRI Kerapu-812 and KRI Untung Suropati-872 departed from the Eastern Fleet Command Headquarters in Ujung, Surabaya, East Java.
The warships would be involved in a joint exercise with RAN elements for seven days in Kupang.
In the exercise, the RAN would deploy the warships HMAS Bathrust P-85 and HMAS Pirie P-87.
"The warships of the two navies would conduct a manouvering exercise in the Timor Sea and later in Australian waters while they would eventually dock at Darwin port," Rudhi said.
The two countries` navies had already held several exercises under the codename Cassoex. "The two navies consider the exercise mutually beneficial in terms of technical or tactical capabilities," he said.
Therefore, Rudhi hoped the exercises would continue to contribute positively to the boosting of the two countries` diplomatic relations.
Antara News, Monday, April 12, 2010 20:50 WIB
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian and US navies have agreed to increase cooperation in maritime security in Asia Pacific.
It was learned here on Monday following a closed-door meeting between Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Agus Suhartono and the commander of the US 7th Fleet Command, Vice Admiral John M Bird.
"During the meeting, which was meant for a courtesy call, the two also discussed their commitment to increasing maritime cooperation in the region," the Indonesian Navy`s spokesman, Col Herry Setianegara, told ANTARA News.
He said the US Navy`s Seventh Fleet commander`s visit was also meant for deeping the relationship between the two countries` navies that had developed so far.
From its headquarters in Yokosuka, Japan, the US 7th Fleet routinely sailed up to 52 million square miles of a stretch from "International Date Line" to the African Eastern Coast and from the Kuril Islands in the North to Antartics in the South to safeguard US interests.
The commander of the US Fleet holds three main authorities namely being the commander of a joint task force in dealing with natural disasters or military operations, the commander of naval operations in the territory under his jurisdiction which is his daily assignment and a defense commander.
In every meeting with his colleagues in the countries he visited the Fleet commander had always emphasized the importance of cooperation between the US and countries in Asia Pacific including Indonesia.
In connection with it, the US 7th Fleet routinely conducts joint military exercises with a number of Asia Pacific countries such as the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training exercise with Indonesia and the Bilateral Sea Readiness and Training exercise with Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia.
KRI Dewaruci, a sail training ship of Indonesian Navy with very Indian mythological motifs, left the port here on Tuesday for Salalah in Oman after a three-day goodwill visit.
The vessel, on its 37th voyage — Kartika Jala Krida 2010— lasting about nine months, will call at over 30 ports in 21 countries, mostly European, where it will partake in tall ship races. Its chief mission, however, is to impart training to Indonesian Naval Academy cadets in navigation, meteorology, keeping watch and survival at sea.
Having set sail for the current voyage with a crew of 81, including 16 officers, besides 68 cadets during the second week of March from its homeport at Surabaya, the ship docked at Sabang in Western Indonesia before calling at Kochi on Saturday. During the visit, Colonel I Putu Arya Angga S, Indonesia’s Defence Attache in India, along with Lieutenant Colonel S.H. Suharto, Commanding Officer of the ship, called on Rear Admiral S.S. Jamwal, Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command.
Post-sunset on Monday, at a reception accorded to Indian Navy personnel and a select group of media persons aboard the Dewaruci (seemingly an adaptation of the Sanskrit Devarshi, Guru of the Gods)—named after the God of honesty and bravery — the sailors of the ship showcased a slice of Indonesian culture. The vessel, as the cultural ambassador of Indonesia, has its masts christened after the great Pandavas of the Mahabharata: ‘Yudhistira’, ‘Bima’ and ‘Arjuna’, indicative of the influence Indian legends and myths have had in shaping Java’s philosophy.
Dewaruci was built in 1952 and commissioned the very next year. On Monday, the grand dame’s sailors doubled up as artistes presenting Rantak dance, a traditional martial art-based dance from West Sumatra; War dance, about the story of a warrior from Papua; Badinding dance, which is a show of hospitality; and Rampak Gendang, a traditional percussion ensemble. What stole the show, however, was the most wonderful and bewitching Seni Reog Ponorogo, an East Javanese ethnic dance akin to north-Kerala’s Theyyam. It depicts a mythological, headgear-wearing-beast-in-trance casting off the evil forces in combat.
After the cultural show, Rear Admiral Jamwal congratulated the Indonesian sailors and recalled the historical association India had had with Indonesia.
“During the current voyage, Dewaruci will partake in the historical seas tall ships regatta in Turkey and Greece, the tall ships race 2010 in Aalborg in Denmark, the sail festival Amsterdam in Netherlands, the sail festival Bremenhaven in Germany and the ‘festival internationale Mediterraneo e Velieri in Italy. Besides India, it will visit countries like Oman, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Tunisia, Nigeria, Spain, France, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Cyprus, and Sri Lanka,” said Lt Col Suharto.
Talking to The Hindu on ‘Ind-Indo Corpat’, Col Angga termed the coordinated patrol carried out by the Indian and Indonesian Navies along the International Maritime Boundary Line a grand success.
Tempo Interactive, Thursday, 25 March, 2010 | 13:29 WIB
TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Maritime and Fishery Minister Fadel Muhammad and Indonesian Navy chief of Staff Admiral Agus Suhartono have signed an MoU on maritime and fishery resources development.
“The scope of the agreement includes monitoring, controlling, and surveillance (MCS) system development," Fadel said in his office yesterday.
Fadel explained that the Maritime and Fishery Ministry and the Indonesian Navy will carry out patrols together.
“The patrols are intended to penalize fish thefts and enforcing the law in national jurisdiction waters,” he said.
The supervision has been increased because fishery resources are often stolen by other countries.
Both parties also intensified collaboration in the education sector as well as human resource development.
EKA UTAMI APRILIA
