National infrastructure
42 A Maritime Security Co-ordination Board was established in 1972 by Joint Decree of the Minister of defence and Security, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General. Those ministers, together with the Minister of Communication, the Minister of Agriculture and the Chief of the National Police, are permanent members of the organization concerning maritime security joint operations. Non-permanent members are the Minister of International Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Forestry, the Minister of Mining and Energy, the Minister of Environment and the Chairman of the National Search and Rescue (SAR) Agency.
43 The tasks of the aforementioned organization are, inter alia, suppression of piracy and other criminal acts at sea. The authority is, inter alia, to intercept, inspect and detain suspicious ships, investigate any suspected criminal act at sea, seize suspected goods that was used for criminal acts at sea and “hot pursuit”.
44 The National SAR Agency is responsible for relaying alerts from ships, including alerts on attacks or threats of attack by pirates and armed robbers, to the security body concerned, i.e. the Indonesian Naval Fleet Headquarters, which then orders the Naval Combat and Security Task Group to conduct a security operation combined with the task unit from the security co-ordination body.
Regional co-operation
45 Three joint operations with neighbouring States have been carried out:
- INDOSIN a co-ordinated patrol between Indonesia and Singapore;
- MALINDO a co-ordinated patrol between Malaysia and Indonesia; and
- OPTIMA a second co-ordinated patrol between Malaysia and Indonesia.
Problem areas identified
46 The general problem areas relate to the geographical configuration of Indonesia, the current economic situation and the resource constraints on law enforcement agencies.
47 A specific problem area is the reporting of acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships. Reporting falls in a number of phases: the alerting by a ship under attack or threat of attack (the “shout for help”); the alerting of other ships in the area to the incident reporting by the ship-either directly or through its company or agent-to the coastal State concerned, and to the flag State, after the incident; and reporting by the flag State or other entity to IMO. In this respect it was stated repeatedly by representatives of the Government agencies concerned that it was not possible for them to act in a timely and effective manner if attacks or threats of attack were not reported immediately by the ship to the coastal State.
48 Although regional co-operation has been established on a bilateral basis it does not seem to cover all aspects related to the prevention and suppression of acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships, for example with regard to reporting, investigation, training and exercises.
