Antara News

Indonesia invites Taiwanese investors and businessmen to invest in the maritime sector to support government programs to make Indonesia into the world's maritime axis, reports Antara News. The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) has said the investment potential in the maritime sector has reached US$1.2 trillion. Seeing this great potential and in line with the objective of realizing the vision of becoming an axis of the maritime world, Indonesia invited investors from Taiwan. Director of Investment Planning in the Agribusiness and Natural Resources of the Capital Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Hanung Harimba Rachman said the maritime sector is a priority in the countrys 5 year development program. "The maritime sector is a priority in our strategic plan for 2015-2019," Hanung said.

Sultan of the Yogyakarta Sultanate in Indonesia Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X asked President Joko Widodo to reject the Chinese government bid to link the World Maritime Axis (Indonesia) with the Maritime Silk Road (China), reports Antara News. Chinese offer for cooperation in the Maritime Silk Road framework could make the Indonesian nation become consumers of their products, he said. "Maritime Silk Road from China is the logistics of the country's path to another country, therefore if their bid is accepted, then it would make Indonesia into China's consumer products forever," said Sri Sultan. Yogyakarta said that the Indonesian Archipelago Sea Lanes (ALKI) had so far always been the target of China, Australia and Singapore.

Japan is still interested to build a seaport in Indonesia after its plan to build the Cilamaya seaport was cancelled, reported Antara News as Indonesian Ambassador to Japan Yusron Ihza Mahendra saying. He said he was confident that Japan was still interested to build a seaport, but it will likely conduct a study on the project first before moving ahead. Mahendra met Vice President Jusuf Kalla and discussed the Cilamaya project that had been cancelled as its location would be shifted to the east. Mahendra said that Japan hoped for the presence of a good seaport, so that it could focus on automotive exports. Initially, the development of Cilamaya Port was one of five flagship projects planned with co-operation from Japan…

State-owned shipbuilding company PT PAL Indonesia has received orders from a Thai shipping company for four container ships measuring 50,000 deadweight ton (DWT). The order from Thoresen Thai Agencies (TTA) is worth US$180 million, PT PAL General Engineering and Maintenance Director Herbadi Noviano said. Herbadi said the construction of the ships was to be completed in 2010-2013, adding that work could not start at once for the order as PT PAL had to honor contracts made earlier with other customers. State-owned shipbuilding company PT PAL Indonesia has received orders from a Thai shipping company for four container ships measuring 50,000 deadweight ton (DWT).

According to a report on Antara News (www.antara.co.id/en) Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. won orders valued at $2.1 billion to build 10 vessels. The deal from a European shipping company calls for the delivery of nine container ships and one drill ship by December 2011.

The STX Shipbuilding Co., South Korea's seventh-largest shipbuilder, has won a $373m order to build six petrochemical goods carriers for a shipping company in India. The order, which accounts for 30.7 per cent of STX Shipbuilding's sales last year, calls for the Korean shipbuilder to deliver the six vessels to India's Shipping Corp. by July 2010, the company said in a statement. Source: ANTARA

According to the AP, the Indonesian Navy will purchase six modern diesel submarines from Russia as part of an upgrading of its aging military arsenal, the state news agency reported Thursday. Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Slamet Soebijanto told Antara the military will buy four Kilo class and two Amur 950, Lada class, Russian submarines. No financial details were disclosed. The Russian submarines, equipped with missiles, torpedoes, and anti-mine systems, were chosen over French and German equivalents. The Indonesian Defense Ministry also has plans to buy a dozen Russian-made Sukhoi fighter planes early next year, another six submarines by 2024, and warships, possibly from Russia and the Netherlands.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co.won an order worth $1.27b to build an oil drilling and production platform for an Angolan unit of energy giant Chevron Corp. The platform, to be built at Okpo Bay of Geoje Island, about 406 km south of Seoul, will be installed in the Tombua-Landana offshore oil field off the coast of Angola, southwestern Africa, Antara reported. (Source: Antara)

Arpeni Pratama Ocean Lines said it plans to invest $130 million to buy 24 vessels to strengthen its fleet this year. The company had additional equity amounting to $33.1m from a rights issue last year, but the fund will not be enough to cover the expansion, Suhendra said. According to sources, a number of local and foreign banks have offered loans for the company to buy the ships. The types of vessels to be bought include tug boats, barges, floating cranes and large ships for coal transport. (Source: Antara/Asia Pulse)

The waters in the Kepulauan Seribu Seribu National Park (TNKS) in the Java Sea north of Jakarta were last week polluted by oil spills from oil rigs of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and BP Indonesia or from passing tankers, Antara reported. The TNKS authority has caused the oil spills from rigs of the Chinese company and the subsidiary of United Kingdom-based BP (British Petroleum) or passing tankers had been polluting the waters around Putri and Perak islets since Feb 18. The TNKS had also found that the polluted area was widening as the oil spills were also spotted in waters around Putri Timur and Bira Besar islets on Feb 19. The pollutants reportedly had also made the waters around Putri Barat, Kayu Angin Bira, Belanda, Petondan and Pelangi islets dirty.

PT Pertamina will procure 32 oil tankers totaling more than 800,000 dwt for domestic oil shipments, according to a report on Antara News. The company`s president was quoted in the report as saying that the company’s oil transportation fleet is aging and needs refurbishment, and that the company would procure the tankers under the bare boat hire purchase scheme, with the intent to own them after about 10 years. Though competition to provide the tonnage would be strong, it was indicated that Pertamina would prioritize locally built vessels. The tankers are expected to be ready starting from 2008 to 2012, and will include two 500 dwt LPG tankers, four 3,500 dwt, three 6,500 dwt tankers, ten 17,500 DWT, ten 30,000 dwt tankers and three Aframax with a capacity above 100,000 dwt.