The World Maritime Axis is a vision of the regime of President Joko Widodo for the future Indonesia. This means to make this country as a sovereign, advanced, independent, strong, and capable maritime country, thus making a positive contribution to regional and world security and peace in accordance with national interests. The declaration of Indonesia as the world’s maritime axis has been outlined in Presidential Regulation No: 16 of 2017 concerning Indonesian Maritime Policy.
Commending this vision, Achmad Ridwan Tentowi, Head of the Maritime and Trade Department for Association of Indonesian Doctor and Professors in Law (APDHI), calls for improvement of some aspects, including maritime law reform.
“To realize Indonesia as a world maritime axis, it requires five focuses for empowerment and development, including maritime culture, maritime resources, maritime infrastructure and connectivity, maritime diplomacy, and maritime defense,” Ridwan said in his paper for APDHI Online Workshop and Gathering on Saturday, December 26.
According to Ridwan, making Indonesia as a World Maritime Axis is actually not a new issue, since the history had proved it. He said, Indonesia had reached a golden age in the maritime sector during the era of Sriwijaya (7th century) and Majapahit (14th century) Kingdoms, in which Indonesian people had used the sea for trading and shipping activities.
Then, in 1957 through the Djuanda Declaration, Indonesia declared to the world the Indonesian archipelago as a unitary territory of the Republic of Indonesia, meaning that the Indonesian Sea includes the surrounding seas, between and within the Indonesian archipelago. The Djuanda Declaration was recognized at the 3rd UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) in 1982.
The objective of the Djuanda Declaration is to create a unitary territory of the Republic of Indonesia that is intact and strong and to determine the territorial boundaries of the Republic of Indonesia in accordance with the principles of an archipelagic state. In addition, it aims to regulate peaceful shipping that further ensures the security and safety of the Republic of Indonesia.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which is also referred to as international sea law or sea treaty law, is an international treaty resulting from the UN conference on the Law of the Sea.
The Indonesian government finally ratified the 1982 UNCLOS with the issuance of Law No: 17 of 1985. UNCLOS 1982 also explicitly regulates the authority of a coastal state over the sea area (territorial sea, additional zone, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf).
In addition, UNCLOS 1982 also regulates the procedures for drawing maritime boundaries in case of overlapping claims between two or more neighbouring countries, either adjacent or opposite.
UNCLOSS has also arranged for all countries to enjoy the right to peace through the territorial sea. Among other things, an archipelago country may designate the archipelago and air routes above the archipelago, which are used for the passage of ships and foreign aircraft as soon as possible and continuously through or above the sea lanes the archipelago and the adjacent territorial sea (article 53 verses 1). Whereas in Article 26 paragraph (1) states that there are no charges that can be imposed on foreign ships just for crossing the territorial sea.
And the article (2) states that charges may be imposed on foreign ships crossing the territorial sea only as payment for special services rendered to that ship. “These levies must be imposed without discrimination,” said Ridwan.
Connectivity and Sea Toll
Ridwan, who is also the Secretary General of the Indonesia Maritime Transportation and Logistic Watch (IMLOW), said that Sea connectivity cannot stands alone. It needs support and synergy with regional development. There are three crucial points that must be considered in realizing this connectivity: first, completion of port upgrades (5 deep-sea ports, 19 feeder ports and 100 sub feeder ports).
Second, take focus on the development of 9 national priority industrial areas or strategic priority projects (major projects) including 18 industrial estates and Special Economic Zones (KEK). Third, develop ports and industrial centres outside Java, thus cutting economy gap among the regions.
Meanwhile, to optimize the Sea Toll program, he added, it needs an agency or an authority that will oversee the implementation of the Sea Toll program. “Therefore, a comprehensive evaluation of the Sea Toll program should be carried out, particularly regarding schedule transparency, availability of loading space and mooring fees. The Sea Toll Program also needs to be followed by improvements in land transportation infrastructure and warehousing facilities in the areas of 3T (underdeveloped, frontline, and outermost),” said Ridwan.
Port Sector
Ridwan also calls for a special law on port affairs, which is separated from the Shipping Law. “This is in order to provide legal certainty relating to investment, labor and the smooth flow of goods,” he explained.
In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the role of the Port Authority by establishing a Port Authority Agency which reports directly to the President. He said, the restructuring of the port sector is based on the fact that there are currently more than 1,000 commercial and non-commercial ports in Indonesia, in addition to the fact that there are more and more BUP (companies holding port business permits).
As for the logistics sector, Ridwan said the need for a Logistics Law, in order to accelerate the performance of the Indonesian logistics index in the future.
As the reports had said, in 2018, Indonesia’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranked 46th, lower than Vietnam of 39th. In addition, Indonesia’s logistics cost is still high, reaching 24% of gross domestic product (GDP).
However, he appreciated the any efforts to streamline the logistics cost, including the National Logistic Ecosystem, reducing dwelling time, operating 24/7, imposing online delivery orders (DO), Indonesia National Single Window (INSW), Inaportnet, and Bonded Logistics Center (PLB).
Shipping and Maritime Tourism
Ridwan also highlighted some notes in the national shipping industry, saying the need for a low interest credit policy and long tenors. In addition, there is a need for a ministerial regulation regarding procedures for detaining ships at ports in accordance with Article 223 paragraph (2) of Law No. 17 on Services.
Improvements in stages, he said, also need to be carried out for domestic and foreign shipping, including maritime tourism and maritime human resources competence.
“What I can say for the conclusion is that Indonesia needs to reform of maritime law, in order to realize the vision of a world maritime axis,” Ridwan said.