Australia-Indonesia maritime cooperation continues
On Wednesday 28 January, AMSA met with the Director General of Sea Transportation (DGST) to discuss the new government priorities in maritime safety in Indonesia and their linkage to current areas of cooperation and the President's maritime axis vision for Indonesia.
Of particular interest were the strong ministerial directives placing safety foremost on departmental priorities. This was backed up by a strong Government of Indonesia budget allocation in the current year (an increase of more than double) for infrastructure for ports, vessel traffic services (VTS), Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) and aids to navigation, and construction of 150 new vessels over the next 5 years (50 aids to navigation vessels and 100 passenger/cargo vessels for remote areas). The Indonesian President has made maritime development a defining theme of his first term, in order to unite the economy and the population across the archipelago. Economic development will be matched with a safety focus to ensure sustainable progress.
AMSA, through the ITSAP program is assisting DGST with improving maritime safety in areas including:
- regulation and governance
- port State control
- VTS standard operating procedures and International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) accreditation for training
- GMDSS
- Traffic Separation Scheme planning
- pilotage management
- International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code
- International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code
- strategic planning related to the safety of the pioneer fleet (for remote areas).
