The sun shone brightly one morning in Surabaya Port, East Java, setting a-shimmer a sea lined with muted, grey warships docked along the vast harbor. To the side stood one giant crimson-colored vessel, probed and prodded by dozens of men all across its surface still unfinished.

"This is a work in progress of the second strategic sealift vessel [SSV] warship to be delivered to the Philippines,” a man dressed in cerulean uniform and white hard hat said proudly.

The man, M. Firmansyah Arifin, is the president director of state-owned shipbuilder PT. PAL Indonesia (PAL). He recently took The Jakarta Post team across the extensive grounds of the company's shipyard.

Read our Longform story, 'Achieving mastery of the seas', here.

(Liza Yosephine/ The Jakarta Post)