Local shipping sector left in need of loans

Aditya Suhermoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 03/25/2008 12:45 AM 

The local shipping industry requested more bank loans Monday to support the anticipated rise in shipping demand caused by a government policy banning foreign vessels from transporting goods between local ports. 

Director general of sea transportation Effendi Batubara said the shipping sector needed a lot of funds following the enactment of the 2005 presidential decree on "cabotage principle", which will be fully applied after 2011. 

The principle will only allow locally registered vessels to ship domestic commodities between ports in Indonesian waters. 

To expand local fleet and shipyard capacity, the Transportation Ministry has estimated financial needs of more than Rp 34 trillion until 2010. 

According to the ministry, Indonesian flag vessels last year carried 148.7 million tons of domestic cargo, or 65.3 percent of total cargo, while the remaining 34.7 percent was still served by foreign shipping companies. 

Bank Indonesia (BI) said the banking sector only disbursed Rp 9.8 trillion in loans to the shipping industry last year, just a small portion of the sector's total lending of Rp 1,000.81 trillion. 

"The amount, however, rose by 88 percent from Rp 5.22 trillion disbursed in 2006," BI deputy governor Muliaman D. Hadad said. 

The rate of non-performing loans for the shipping sector declined to 3.8 percent in 2007 from 11 percent in 2006, signaling the sector's healthy performance. 

"The number showed a remarkable improvement for the industry," said Muliaman. 

"With these figures, I don't see any reason for banks not to actively channel loans to the industry," he said, adding the lack of awareness about the issue among local banks was the main reason for the low number of loans.

 

"Banks still perceive the shipping industry as high-risk and slow yielding. That is why they are not that involved in the sector," he said.

 

Because of these difficulties, the local shipping industry has been exploring alternative funding from the capital market and foreign financial banks and institutions.

 

Chairman of the Indonesian National Shipowners Association Oentoro Surya said the industry had to seek other sources of financing to keep businesses afloat because there was a local stigma the industry was high-risk.

 

He explained banks were reluctant to give loans because the industry had no legal basis to give its vessels as collateral.

 

"Banks will not disburse loans without collateral," he said, adding the current deliberation of the shipping bill would provide a legal basis and enable local shipping companies to easily get loans from local banks.

 

The House of Representatives is set to endorse the bill next month.

CORPORATE AID

The Jakarta Post, Mon, 03/24/2008 12:27 AM  

 Bank BRI president director Sofyan Basyir (left) and Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi (2nd right) chat with local fishermen after giving aid to 32,545 households in Nelayan village, Muara Angke, North Jakarta, on Sunday. The aid, which consisted of staple food supplies, had a total value of Rp 5 billion (about US$550,000), and was part of the bank’s corporate social responsibility program. (JP/P.J. Leo)

Salt could shake up world energy supply

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

TOFTE, Norway (Reuters) - Only up to powering light bulbs so far, "salt power" is a tantalizing if distant prospect as high oil prices make alternative energy sources look more economical.

A view of an industrial estate at Tofte near Oslo, Norway, March 2, 2008, where
 state power group Statkraft will build an experimental "salt power" plant in 2008
(REUTERS/Alister Doyle)

Two tiny projects to mix sea and river water -- one by the fjord south of Oslo, the other at a Dutch seaside lake -- are due on stream this year and may point to a new source of clean energy in estuaries from the Mississippi to the Yangtze.

The experiments, which seek to capture the energy released when fresh and salt water are mixed, build on knowledge that has been around for centuries -- in one case imitating the process of osmosis used by trees to suck water from their roots.

Although they are far from being economically viable, if eventually successful they might help a long-term quest to diversify away from fossil fuels such as coal and oil, widely blamed for stoking global warming.

"We might well be able to find new promising solutions such as generating power naturally from osmotic forces occurring when salt and fresh water are mixing," Norwegian deputy Energy Minister Liv Monica Stubholt said in a speech earlier this month.

And rivers flow around the clock, an advantage compared to variable wind or solar power.

Oil, currently trading not far from a record $112 a barrel, is forecast to peak this year as a U.S. slowdown reduces demand, but analysts polled by Reuters in February still saw the average price above $80 in 2010.

The U.N. Climate Panel said in 2007 energy sources such as waves, tidal power or salt are a long way off -- unlikely to make a significant contribution to overall power needs by 2030.

WARMER ESTUARIES

The science at the heart of the projects is the fact that when salt and fresh water mix at river mouths, they are typically warmed by 0.1 degree Celsius (0.2 Fahrenheit). Dutch scientists say such energy at all the world's estuaries is equivalent to 20 percent of world electricity demand.

The plants may support hopes the technology can overcome hurdles, the most significant of which is poor cost-effectiveness of the membranes used in the process.

In Norway, power group Statkraft, which says it is Europe's top producer of hydro and wind energy alongside Electricite de France, is building a test plant costing $20 million.

"Ours will be the world's first saline power plant based on osmosis," said Stein Erik Skilhagen of the state-owned company.

The plant, at Tofte on the Oslo fjord, will have output of up to about 5 kilowatts -- enough to run household appliances such as washing machines or heaters or a few dozen lightbulbs.

The Dutch Centre for Sustainable Water Technology (Wetsus) will also in three to four months start a pilot "blue power" test at IJsselmeer in the Netherlands, from where water flows into the sea.

"At the start, it will be on the scale of 100 watts...but we aim at this salt factory to obtain 1-5 kilowatts within one year," said Jan Post, a researcher at Wetsus.

LIGHTBULBS TO POWER PLANTS

The Norwegian and Dutch plants use different systems but both depend on membranes placed between the salt and fresh water, which are currently prohibitively expensive and highly energy-intensive to produce.

"The Achilles' heel for this process is that there is no commercial membrane," said Menachim Elimelech, a professor of chemical and environmental engineering at Yale University in the United States. "It's not even close to being economical."

The membranes are similar to, but thinner, than those used at many desalination plants, when sea water is pressed against membranes that allow only fresh water through in a process known as reverse osmosis.

Makers of membranes such as General Electric, Dow Chemical, Hydranautics or Japan's Toray Industries focus most on membrane technology for desalination -- a market growing by about 15 percent a year worldwide.

Ellen Mellody of GE Infrastructure, Water and Process Technology said the company has "an aspirational goal" of producing fresh water from salt through membranes at a cost of 10 cents per cubic meter, down from 70 cents to a dollar.

Asked about prospects for a separate market for power-generating membranes, she saw one "potentially, but not for about 5-10 years".

The Norwegian project will include 2,000 square meters (21,530 sq ft) of plastic membranes, through which fresh water will be sucked into salt water by osmosis.

Osmosis' power was shown in 1748 when French physicist Jean-Antoine Nollet put a pig's bladder filled with alcohol in a trough of water. The bladder swelled and burst -- the more concentrated liquid draws pure water into it.

At Tofte, the power exerted by salt water sucking in fresh water is equivalent to water falling 270 meters in a waterfall. The only emissions are brackish water.

Unlike the osmosis of the Norwegian system, the Dutch scheme captures salt particles which give off electrical currents.

Yale's Elimelech said a full scale plant would demand membranes covering perhaps 100 acres, at risk of damage by pollutants dissolved in the river or the sea.

Also, filters have to be in place to avoid sucking in fish and there are environmental concerns about drawing water away from estuaries, perhaps threatening plants and creatures in the area.

"The membrane is the challenge," agreed Skilhagen. "In tests we have come over three watts per square meter (of membrane), but we have to reach five. When we do that it will be industrially interesting."

The Dutch project is close to producing two watts per square meter of membrane. "In theory, both techniques use the same energy source and you could in theory get the same amount of energy out," said Sybrand Metz, project leader at Wetsus.

The Dutch government, utility Eneco and Redstack research group are also making a feasibility study of a plant on the Afsluitdijk dam between the IJsselmeer and the Wadden Sea, with a 10-50 kilowatt installation to be built that could lead to a 200 megawatt capacity if it works.

"Membrane-based technologies are voracious energy consumers," said France's Veolia, which runs huge desalination plants. It wants to cut energy consumption of membrane desalination by 80 percent over 15 years.

-- For Reuters latest environment blogs click on:

http://blogs.reuters.com/environment/

(Editing by Sara Ledwith)

Related Articles:

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Hydrogen Production

Stingray Kills Woman on Boat in Fla.

Google/AP

MARATHON, Fla. (AP) — A 75-pound stingray killed a Michigan woman Thursday when it flew out of the water and struck her face as she rode a boat in the Florida Keys, officials said.

Judy Kay Zagorski, of Pigeon, Mich., was sitting in the front seat of a boat going 25 mph when the spotted eagle ray, with a wingspan of 5 to 6 feet, leaped out of the water, said Jorge Pino, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The 57-year-old woman's father was driving the boat on the Atlantic Ocean side of Vaca Key, Pino said.

A spotted eagle stingray is seen in this photo released by the Monroe County Sheriff's Dept. Thursday, March 20, 2008. Florida wildlife officials are investigating the death of a Michigan woman who was killed Thursday after a stingray jumped out of the water and struck the woman while she was riding in a boat in the Florida Keys near Marathon, Fla. (AP Photo/HO,Monroe County Sheriff's Dept., Mark Coleman)

"He had absolutely no warning. It just happened instantaneously," Pino said.

The collision knocked Zagorski backward onto the floor of the boat, Pino said.

The impact likely killed the woman, and she did not appear to have puncture wounds from the ray's barb, Pino said. An autopsy is planned, Pino said.

Zagorski's sister was standing next to her when the stingray appeared but was not injured, Pino said.

The stingray landed in the 25-foot boat and died from the impact, officials said.

Spotted eagle rays can weigh 500 pounds and have a wingspan of up to 10 feet. They are known to occasionally jump out of the water but are not aggressive and use the venomous barb at the end of their tail for defense.

The rays are protected in Florida waters and are typically seen swimming on the water's surface.

"Rays jump to escape a predator, give birth and shake off parasites," said Lynn Gear, supervisor of fishes and reptiles at Theater of the Sea in Islamorada.

"They do not attack people." In 2006, a South Florida man was also critically injured when a stingray flopped into his boat and stung him.

James Bertakis, 82, of Lighthouse Point, underwent surgery because the stingray left a foot-long barb in his heart. He has since recovered.

ADB Funds Environmental Plan to Save 'Coral Triangle' and 'Heart of Borneo'

Asian Development Bank

(14 March 2008) - The Asia Development Bank will provide a $1.5 million grant for environmentalists to work with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to draw up a plan to protect the region's seas and rainforests which are being damaged at an alarming rate.

Read the full story

NZ dolphin rescues beached whales

BBC News

A dolphin has come to the rescue of two whales which had become stranded on a beach in New Zealand.

Conservation officer Malcolm Smith told the BBC that he and a group of other people had tried in vain for an hour and a half to get the whales to sea.

The pygmy sperm whales had repeatedly beached, and both they and the humans were tired and set to give up, he said.

But then the dolphin appeared, communicated with the whales, and led them to safety.

The bottlenose dolphin, called Moko by local residents, is well known for playing with swimmers off Mahia beach on the east coast of the North Island.

Mr Smith said that just when his team was flagging, the dolphin showed up and made straight for them.

"I don't speak whale and I don't speak dolphin," Mr Smith told the BBC, "but there was obviously something that went on because the two whales changed their attitude from being quite distressed to following the dolphin quite willingly and directly along the beach and straight out to sea."

He added: "The dolphin did what we had failed to do. It was all over in a matter of minutes."

Back at Play

Mr Smith said he felt fortunate to have witnessed the extraordinary event, and was delighted for the whales, as in the past he has had to put down animals which have become beached.

He said that the whales have not been seen since, but that the dolphin had returned to its usual practice of playing with swimmers in the bay.

"I shouldn't do this I know, we are meant to remain scientific," Mr Smith said, "but I actually went into the water with the dolphin and gave it a pat afterwards because she really did save the day."

Foreign fishing crews in Tual liven up island economy

A section in the central market of the backwater Tual Island in Maluku seems to be detached from the surrounding bustle.

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 03/06/2008 1:22 AM

While many outsiders say the expensive goods drive away buyers from this section, locals blame the police.

They say this section of the market was severely affected by a police crackdown on illegal fishing in the waters of Tual in late November. The section had become a regular spot for foreign crew members of fishing vessels to shop for supplies, vendors said.

"Before the crackdown, this part of the market was always packed with Thai and Vietnamese crew members. A lot of locals made ends meet by supplying foreign crews," resident Upang Bugis told The Jakarta Post in early January.

Upang used to help transport supplies from the market to the fishing vessels.

Although fishing vessels operating in the surrounding seas mostly fly Indonesian flags, the captains and crews are mostly from Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, while the Indonesians are only tasked with petty work, police say.

When police seized 14 fishing vessels for alleged poaching just off Tual and Benjina islands last Nov. 26 and Dec. 7, 306 crew members from Thailand, two from Myanmar and 18 from Indonesia were arrested.

The employment of these foreign crew members violates existing fishing regulations, which stipulate that an Indonesian flagged fishing vessel must have 70 percent locals among its crew.

However, the police and the fisheries ministry blame the ministry of manpower and transmigration for failing to supervise employment on fishing vessels.

"Most residents here are so dependent on income from foreign fishing crews they no longer bother about not getting chances to work on fishing vessels," said Maluku Tenggara Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ony Budyo Suswanto.

He estimated around 70 percent of the 90,000 natives of Tual Island either worked as traditional fishermen or provided supplies and services to crews of the vessels who regularly came to the island.

Following concerns that foreign crews would no longer stop by in Tual, dozens of residents staged a rally protesting the police raids on fishing vessels.

"Residents and some local legislators came to the police to protest the detentions. They claimed the arrests would scare off foreign fishermen from coming to Tual to buy food," said Ony.

Tual is the capital of Maluku Tenggara regency in Maluku. The island is around a two-hour flight from Maluku's capital Ambon.

The island can also be reached in four days on a passenger vessel operated by state-owned shipping company PT Pelni from East Java's capital Surabaya.

Fishing vessels, crewed mostly by foreigners, often stop at Tual to upload supplies or, ideally, download their catches to a local processing plant after weeks of fishing on the Arafura Sea, a hotbed for poachers, according to the National Police.

When the Post visited the island, the uploading activities of illegally collected fish directly to foreign trampers had become a daily sight at all ports on Tual Island.

Lack of supervision and the island's remote location seem to have created a haven for illegal fishing activities.

The Arafura Sea, where Tual is the main fishing harbor, attracts international poaching syndicates due to its abundant reserves and quality of the fish, according to the director general for supervision at the ministry of fisheries and marine affairs, Aji Sularso.

The sea is around 1,290 kilometers long and 560 kilometers wide, stretching between Papua and Australia.

"The (Arafura) sea is a meeting point between warm and cold waters. The quality and the types of fish there are unmatchable," said Aji, adding that poachers, mostly from Thailand and China, had been operating there since the 1980s.

The National Police's deputy director for special crimes, Sr. Comr. Sadar Sebayang, said a fishing vessel operating in Arafura could net fish worth at least Rp 20 billion per catch, while income received by the regency reached only around Rp 8 billion annually in the form of local fees.

The police believe some 5,088 fishing vessels above 30 gross tons are operating in the country's eastern waters, with most of the vessels regularly harboring in Tual.

Aside from providing supplies, Tual residents also provide nightlife spots for foreign crews seeking rest and recreation after weeks of struggle on the open sea.

When the Post visited the island, there were around five brothels operating in an area dubbed "Mona Lisa". These brothels are often packed with foreign fishermen.

A pimp there said sex workers from West Java were the favorite of Thai fishermen. Other sex workers come from East Java, Kalimantan and South Sulawesi.

Sex workers said they do not receive regular check-ups. Police chief Ony said there was no data on HIV infections, as most sex workers refuse to undergo regular medical check-ups. -- JP/Rendi Akhmad Witular (With additional reporting by M. Aziz Tunny)

Tual crackdown highlights battle of the underworld

The Indonesian-flagged Pongtif Reefer tramper is no ordinary fishing vessel. Equipped with 3,400 cubic meters of cold storage, the US$15 million vessel can carry enough fish to cover half a soccer pitch.

Rendi Akhmad Witular , The Jakarta Post | Thu, 03/06/2008 1:22 AM

The tramper was among 14 fishing vessels detained by the National Police on Nov. 26 and Dec. 7 for alleged poaching just off Tual and Benjina islands in Maluku.

The detained vessels included two Thai and two Panamanian trampers and 10 Indonesian-flagged vessels of Thai origin.

The police detained 306 crew members from Thailand, two from Myanmar and 18 from Indonesia. Around 3,500 tons of fish was confiscated as well.

However, police have thus far been unable to arrest the businessmen behind the activities.

While the money men behind the poaching syndicate remain at large, speculation remains that the crackdown was deliberately orchestrated by a business group to sideline its opponents.

An official at the ministry of fishery and maritime affairs, who asked for anonymity over fears for his safety in disclosing the information, said the crackdown was part of a series of battles between business groups in China (Taiwan) and Thailand.

He said the Chinese businesses were allegedly helped here by a local mogul with close links to some police officers, while the Thai groups had support from some Indonesian Military officers and bureaucrats.

"The raid was primarily driven by business conflicts between international fishing firms who use brokers in Indonesia."

"The local businessman who represented the Chinese asked his friends at the National Police to give his rivals a lesson," said the official.

Col. (ret.) Firman, an executive of PT Mina Jaya Bahari, seven of whose vessels were detained in the operation, believed the raid was part of a business conflict involving his company.

"We feel (the raid) is part of unhealthy business competition. But I won't tell who's behind this. The police have no reason at all for detaining our vessels as we've complied with all regulations," said Firman, also an executive at the Navy's cooperative agency Induk Koperasi Angkatan Laut, or Inkopal.

Firman denied his firm had any links with Inkopal or received any support from the Navy.

A spokesman for the Indonesian Military (TNI), Rear Marshal Sagom Tamboen, denied TNI personnel were involved in providing backing for poachers.

"There is no hard evidence showing any military personnel are cooperating with poachers," he said.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Sisno Adiwinoto also denied accusations the raid was orchestrated, insisting the crackdown was a police initiative.

"The police are strongly independent. There is (nothing to allegations) the case was a request from a certain businessman .... We operate based on sufficient evidence," he said.

According to a former Indonesian sailor who said he was once involved in poaching in the Arafura Sea, Indonesian-flagged fishing vessels were mostly operated by Thai cooperatives grouped under a powerful Thai overseas fishing association.

Sutep Sangsuk-Iem, one of the Thai crew members arrested by the police, said his agent in Thailand had links with the association. However, he refused to elaborate.

Thai Ambassador to Indonesia Akrasid Amatayakul denied any involvement of Thai security personnel in backing the association for alleged poaching in Indonesian waters.

"There is no evidence over the involvement of the monarchy's security personnel in poaching cases here," he said.

National Police deputy director for special crimes, Sr. Comr. Sadar Sebayang, said the Thai association used Indonesian brokers to take advantage of fishing regulations providing legal leeway for them to operate here as Indonesian-registered fishing vessels.

"There is preliminary evidence that poaching by the Thai crews here is linked with the association," he said, without elaboration.

The former sailor said the value of a fishing catch was so tempting it led many groups to ignore the law and business ethics, including the use of willing authorities to strike down their rivals.

Maluku Tenggara Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ony Budyo Suswanto, who was involved in the raids, said a tramper supported by three catching vessels could take in Rp 240 billion (US$25.5 million) from eight trips per year.

Maluku Tenggara prosecutor Reynaldi said his office had completed on Dec. 27 the auction of the fish confiscated during the raids, with local fishing company PT Maritim Timur Jaya winning the bidding with an offer of Rp 5.9 billion.

Reynaldi said the company paid around Rp 4,000 per kilogram, regardless of the type of the fish.

"The auction was held according to regulations. We needed to sell the fish quickly because we were afraid they would spoil," he said. -- JP/Rendi Akhmad Witular

Vague decree gives poachers leeway to plunder sea

The Jakarta Post , Tual, Maluku | Thu, 03/06/2008 1:23 AM

While Indonesia is still struggling to curb rampant illegal logging, the country also faces poaching on the open seas where wars between competing interests are often difficult to detect.

As crime scenes of illegal fishing are extremely remote and environmental destruction hard to measure, no kingpins of poaching syndicates have ever ended up in either jail or court.

On Tuesday, though, Indonesia and 10 other countries issued plans in Bali to jointly combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

FISHY BUSINESS: Indonesian-registered fishing trampers from Thailand are docked at a port belonging to fishing firm PT Maritim Timur Jaya. They were detained last December for alleged poaching (JP/Rendi A. Witular)

The Jakarta Post's Rendi Akhmad Witular investigates the story behind illegal fishing, traveling to backwater Tual Island in Maluku province, a haven for the fishing industry. Here are the reports.

The police combat-type patrol boat 001 Ambon stands by to prevent 14 fishing vessels from slipping out of a port on Tual Island after the police detained the vessels for alleged poaching.

With the patrol boat's only weapon being an old shotgun, the 12 crew members have to ensure also that none of the 306 crew members of the detained vessels escape on smaller boats.

The 001 Ambon is the only vessel available for patrolling the open sea; and it is tasked with supervising almost the entire eastern part of Indonesia.

The 001 Ambon adds to the 20 vessels of the same type operated by the ministry of fisheries and maritime affairs to patrol the nation's 93,000 square kilometers of water, about the size of Hungary, and protect them from poaching.

Despite the lack of supervision facilities in place, the ministry grants fishing licenses that often end up in the hands of dishonest fishing companies.

A document obtained by The Jakarta Post from the ministry highlights the handling of licenses granted to local fishing companies working with foreign ones.

Ministry investigators have determined the document is valid in terms of internal administrative procedures. It indicates that licenses are being granted improperly, whether negligently or on purpose.

The document contains authorization from the ministry's director general of fishing and licenses, Ali Supardan, for fishing operations involving both local fishing firm PT Mina Jaya Bahari and a Thai fishing tramper, the Ocean Empire.

The 1,884-gross-ton tramper -- a vessel that receives and stores fish from other vessels -- has a 3,465-cubic-meter storage capacity.

The license granted by Ali, valid from Aug. 31, 2007, to Aug. 30, 2008, gives the tramper the right to dock in Tual, Merauke and Timika.

However, on Nov. 26, the tramper and several other vessels were detained by the police off Tual Island in Maluku for alleged poaching.

According to the National Police's deputy chief for special crimes, Sr. Comr. Sadar Sebayang, the tramper was receiving catches for export directly from fishing vessels. This violates regulations that require fishing vessels to transport catches to land-based processing plants first.

The regulations are aimed at stimulating employment and tax revenue in the fishing sector.

Because catching vessels cannot travel far on the open sea, police say, trampers are used in poaching operations to pool and transport illegally collected fish out of Indonesia to neighboring countries, especially Thailand.

According to the document, the decision by Ali to allow the tramper access to Indonesian waters was based merely on a private agreement involving a group of companies desiring the use of a tramper to transport processed catches for export.

Based on regulations, local and foreign joint-venture companies are required to have a processing plant before they are allowed to export fish.

However, pursuant to a 2006 decree signed by fisheries minister Freddy Numberi, an exception applies to fishing firms whose processing plants are not yet operational.

For wholly owned local firms the on-shore processing requirement is waived for a one-year period and such firms are allowed to export their catches directly.

These loopholes appear to relieve the authorizing agency -- in this case the director general of fishing and licenses -- from the duty to verify the compliance of fishing firms.

"It remains unclear whether the ministry is sloppy in granting licenses to troubled firms, or if there is a deliberate attempt on the part of some officials here to make way for poaching," said a senior ministry official who asked for anonymity, fearing dismissal for disclosing the information.

"Firms whose vessels are detained during a crackdown typically don't have processing units. They lease trampers and load their catches there for direct export. This is illegal," he said.

Ali denied he bent the rules to provide opportunities to dishonest firms to fish illegally.

"Overseas trampers are allowed to operate here ... local firms need them to transport their processed fish for export. But trampers must dock in the harbor to upload the fish."

He said he dealt with numerous applications and did not remember Ocean Empire's. "I only give licenses to trampers that comply with existing procedures."

Col. (ret) Firman, an executive for Mina Jaya, also denied police accusations his firm had violated any regulations. He said the tramper uploaded catches in the harbor, supervised closely by customs officials and officials from the fishery ministry.

According to the senior ministry official, while the 2006 decree had the appearance of protecting Indonesia from foreign fishing firms, in reality, by allowing foreigners to effectively hide behind Indonesian operations, it made it easier for them to poach here.

"The decree was made hastily. The directorate general of supervision had not yet given its approval when the decree was unexpectedly signed by Minister Freddy, (based) merely on the input of the directorate general of fishing and licenses," said the official.

The supervision directorate, he said, had demanded to see the draft of the decree in order to detect loopholes, as well as to prepare a clear-cut supervision system to detect and prevent irregularities in the granting of licenses.

Hanafi Rustandi, chairman of the Indonesian Seafarers Union, said while the minister claimed that foreign-sponsored local firms could help empower the country's fishing fleet, "our fishermen remain in backwaters while foreigners rake in proceeds from the sea".

From 1996 to 1998, Freddy was the commander of the naval base overseeing Papua and Maluku, including the resource-rich Sea of Arafura and fishing areas near Tual Island.

The ministry is now in the process of revising the 2006 decree, but loopholes remain in the draft revision, especially related to the direct export of certain fish -- such as tuna -- in connection with the land-based processing exception.

The draft effectively allows fishing vessels to net tuna at will and directly transfer them to trampers for export. This will make supervision difficult, especially when the loading takes place at sea.

The one-year waiver that exempts 100 percent locally owned fishing firms from having processing plants is another loophole that remains open in the current draft.

Ali acknowledged that the problematic language remained, but said immediate revision wasn't needed.

"We have left clauses in place for the next revision of the decree .... If you ask me whether we need a breakthrough in the new decree (to prevent poaching), I guess that won't be necessary right now."

RI navy nabs Hong Kong-flagged vessel in west Papua waters

Wamena, Papua, March 6 (ANTARA) - An Indonesian naval patrol boat intercepted and detained a Hong Kong-flagged vessel, the MV Jin Feng, which was believed to be trying to take a quantity of newly-mined nickel out of West Papua waters on Wednesday.

The chief of the Eastern Maritime Security Task Force Command (Koarmatim), Commodore Sugeng Supriyanto, confirmed the detention of the foreign vessel, saying it was trying to leave West Papua waters with tons of nickel in its hold. "But I have yet to receive more detailed information on the action," he added.

He said Koarmatim had been stepping up its patrols in West Papua waters for the past few weeks and one of its patrol boats on Wednesday encountered the MV Jin Fweng which also proved to lack the required documents to enter Indonesian waters.

A few hours later on the same day, another Koamartim patrol boat apprehended a foreign tugboat and barge that had entered West Papua waters illegally, he said.

Surabaya to plant 10,000 mangrove trees in eastern coastal area

Surabaya, East Java (ANTARA News) - Surabaya`s Rungkut Environmental Forum (FPLR) is planning to plant 10,000 mangrove trees in 5,000 square meters of deforested mangrove forest located in eastern coastal area of Surabaya next Sunday.

"We buy the plants at our own expense and the seedlings are the selected ones," head of the Rungkut sub district Irvan Widyanto said on Tuesday.

He said the sub district would also invite the local office of the fishery, forestry and animal husbandry, PT Surabaya Industrial Estate of Rungkut as well as a private cigarette company PT HM Sampoerna Tbk to make the project a success.

He expressed his hope that the project would be a model for other regions to launch a similar action.

Govt urged to act on illegal foreign ships

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta , Mon, 03/03/2008 12:52 AM

The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) and the Indonesian Seafarers Union have demanded the government take action against foreign-flagged vessels operating illegally in Indonesia.

The groups said illegal operations had caused losses to the state because the vessels avoided paying taxes to the Indonesian government.

Some of the tanker ships were allegedly chartered by state oil and gas firm Pertamina.

Under a 2005 presidential decree, foreign ships were banned from operating as domestic carriers within Indonesia's maritime boundaries.

"The decree clearly states that for domestic trade within the country, only Indonesian-flagged ships are allowed to carry out delivery services," union chairman Hanafi Rustandi told The Jakarta Post.

He said despite erecting foreign flags, these vessels were actually operated by Indonesian companies.

"The ships are able to stay in Indonesia's waters without the obligation to abide by our regulations," Hanafi said.

The ITF membership includes seafarers and their unions from across the globe.

Hanafi, also coordinator of Indonesia's ITF, said there were many ships operating in the country under "Flags of Convenience" (FoC), which meant owners registered their vessels in other countries and hoisted those flags on their ships.

The ITF said agents from 32 countries, including Bahamas, Bermuda (UK), Burma, Cambodia, Jamaica, Lebanon, Liberia, Mongolia, North Korea, Panama and Sri Lanka, offered permits for "Flags of Convenience".

"An owner will only have to pay around US$200 to $300 to register each ship under an FoC," Vadim G. Ivanov, foreign relations director at the Russian Seafarers Union, said at a press conference Friday with Hanafi.

Ivanov said once a ship was registered under FoC, the owner then recruited the cheapest labor, paid minimal wages and lowered the living standards and working conditions of their crews.

The federation had received reports from many sailors complaining they lost their rights while working as crew members on board foreign-flagged ships.

One of the victims was a Myanmarese seafarer, Kyaw Htin, who worked for Panama-flagged oil tanker MT Julia-I operated by Indonesian company PT Bina Usaha Mandiri Indonesia Laut (BUMI Laut).

Hanafi identified the ship's owner as Jaka Aryadipa Singgih, a lawmaker with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

In a letter released to the press during the news conference, Kyaw said US$4,929 of his salary had not been paid by the company, although he had been off-board since January.

"The company where he (Htin) worked also held his passport and other documents, limiting his activities in Indonesia," Hanafi said.

Singgih and his lawyers Andy Syam Panaungi and Susanto could not be reached on Sunday.

The ITF said BUMI Laut has been operating 14 vessels, of which seven were chartered by Pertamina, to distribute fuel to eastern Indonesia.

"Pertamina should cancel the charter agreement with those ships because their practices are against our regulations and the conventions of ILO and IMO," he said.

PT BUMI Laut, however, denied the company had charter agreements with Pertamina.

"The statement of ITF that Pertamina chartered our ships is wrong," he said.

"As a company owned by Indonesian businessmen, PT BUMI Laut works professionally and always pay the salaries of its workers," the company's lawyers said in a statement, Berita Kota daily reported last Wednesday. (dia)

Global warming threatens more than just coral

Wellington (ANTARA News/Xinhua) - Rising sea levels from global warming will threaten the livelihoods and homes of more than 200,000 people who live on coral atolls in coming generations, the PACNEWS reported on Monday.

The warning came from Australia`s University of Queensland archaeologist and expert on the prehistoric use of coral atolls, Marshall Weisler.

Weisler said the Central Pacific islands of Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands as well as the Maldives in the Indian Ocean are most at risk.

Weisler said the situation was more serious than people realized with agricultural and already being lost to rising seas in the Marshall Islands, the PACNEWS, a Suva-based regional news agency reported on Monday.

"People have shown me where there used to be gardens, are now lagoons. There are coconut trees that are 20 meters off shore, half falling over," Weisler said.

"In Kiribati, there are high tides that inundate portions of villages, so people are on dry land in the morning and on stilt house villages with water under their house during high lunar tides.

"There are very serious problems for the next generation which may not even be able to live on the island that they are living on now," he added.

The International Panel on Climate Change has predicted sea levels could rise between nine and 88 centimeters this century.

Atolls are at risk because they are small, coral islands barely meters above current sea levels.

Weisler said predicting sea level rises was complex as waters could rise by different levels and have different effects, depending on the atoll location.

He said island nations would face tough decisions in the future about land ownership, economic futures and relocating entire countries within other nations.

"The people on these islands have a small voice because they are not Western industrialized countries with high populations. People aren`t paying attention to them," Weisler said.

Foreign tourist down

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta, Mon, 10/29/2007 4:37 PM

BADUNG: Two people are dead after a group of six foreign tourists were swept to sea by a current in waters off Kuta Beach.

The group had been playing rugby on the beach before swimming despite local lifeguard warnings.

Vabrice De Greve, 30, from Belgium and Steven Wusse Marker, 30, from Netherlands, were drowned. Ketut Handi, a lifeguard at Badung Beach Lifeguard Brigade, confirmed the deaths Saturday. The brigade's secretary Ketut Epel said, lifeguards had warned the group twice he said to no avail. "They were all swept away," Ketut said.

The lifeguards could only save six of them.

"One was already dead during the rescue effort, while the other one was carried by a wave before he was found a few hours later." One of the survivors, Jeff Meister from Singapore, was being treated at Sanglah Hospital.

Bali's fish exports to Europe jump

The Jakarta Post

DENPASAR: Bali's fish exports to European countries showed a significant increase from US$52 million in 2006 to $71.8 million in 2007 despite strict quality requirements set by the European Union.

"We have no problems with our fish exports because we have met the quality standards of those (European) countries," said Ni Wayan Kusumawathi, head of the foreign trade division at Bali's Industry and Trade Agency, as quoted by Antara on Thursday.

She said fish, especially fresh and frozen tuna, was one of Bali's main exports beside handicrafts.

She added that currently there were around 700 fishing ships operating out of Benoa seaport to supply markets in Japan, China, Taiwan and the United States