Java Island News

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense of Indonesia, for the supply of 6 FREMM class frigates, the modernization and sale of 2 Maestrale class frigates, and the related logistical support. Fincantieri will be the prime contractor for the entire program. The company did not share financial details."The construction of the frigates will ensure significant employment benefits not only for several Italian shipyards of the Group in the next years…

Several passengers on an Indonesian ferry jumped into the sea and swam ashore after authorities sought to block the vessel docking due to fears of suspected coronavirus cases, as tensions rise over the spread of the disease across the archipelago.The ferry traveling from via Indonesian Borneo and the island of Sulawesi was blocked when trying to make port in Maumere in the eastern island of Flores, amid fears three crew members on board had contracted the novel coronavirus.Passengers flung themselves into the sea in life vests and swam ashore as authorities debated whether the ship, the Lambelu, would be permitted to dock, an official said.“We ask for the passengers to cooperate with health protocols before disembarking from the ship and refrain from any actions that could be harmful,” Wis

Indonesian rescuers searched on Friday for 30 people missing from the blazing wreckage of a ferry off the coast of Java island.The KM Santika Nusantara was traveling between the country's second-largest city of Surabaya and the town of Balikpapan on Borneo island with 277 people on board, when it caught fire on Thursday evening, government official Syahrul Nugroho told TV channel TV One."About 245 people have been evacuated using small boats, while 30 passengers are still missing," he said.Officials have given no details on the cause of the fire.

Indonesian rescuers were battling high tides and strong winds on Friday in a search for 31 people missing after a fishing boat sank in waters off Borneo island, killing at least four, an official of the search and rescue agency said.There were 37 people on board the vessel, four of whom had been found dead, while two had survived, agency spokesman Iman Saputra said by telephone."Rescue efforts will go on for the next four days. The obstacles are high tides and strong winds," said Saputra, who is based in Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan province, near the site of the sinking.The vessel had left the town of Pekalongan on Java island three days ago before running into trouble, Saputra said, adding that the agency had deployed 35 people to hunt for those missing.

Exxon Mobil plans to drill three exploratory wells in an Indonesian offshore oil block over the next three years, a company official said on Wednesday. Exxon Mobil signed an oil contract with the Indonesian government last month 2,062 sq mile of the offshore Surumana block in the Makassar Straits. The government had said that in the case of Surumana, any oil find would be split 65:35 percent between government and contractor. Meanwhile, any gas find would be split 60:40 percent. Officials say Indonesia still has around 4.1 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and about 4.5 billion barrels in potential reserves. Currently Exxon Mobil has several oil and gas working areas in Indonesia, including in Cepu block on Java island.