TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
A review of maritime issues in 2009
2009 has just ended
Change Size
2009 has just ended. This is a good time to look back and review what has happened over the last year. This article focuses on maritime issues in 2009, based on which Indonesia can prepare its ocean-related policy for the future.
Earlier last year, Indonesia made significant progress in its maritime boundary negotiations with Singapore by signing an agreement on a territorial sea boundary for a short segment in the Singapore Strait. This is the second boundary agreement with Singapore after the first was signed in 1973.
The agreement, which is also the second maritime boundary agreement in the twenty-first century for Indonesia, was achieved after five years of intensive negotiation. This was regarded a reasonably short time considering boundary negotiations normally take decades to finalize.
An earlier agreement with Vietnam in 2003, for example, took about 25 years to negotiate.
Apart from this achievement, Indonesia still has some work to do with regard to maritime boundaries with Singapore. First, the 2009 agreement still needs to be ratified in order for the agreement to be legally binding for Indonesia. Furthermore, pending boundary segments in the western and eastern sides of the Singapore Strait have yet to be completed, and negotiations for particular segments will not only involve Singapore but also Malaysia.
A decision made by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning sovereignty over three geographical features in the strait (Pedra Branca, Middle Rock, and South Ledge), is expected to facilitate maritime negotiation among the three states (see also: Beckman and Schofield, 2009).
In March 2009, Indonesia deposited the list of geographical coordinates of points of the Indonesian Archipelagic Baselines to the United Nations (UN) secretary-general. Baselines are the reference from which territorial sea, contiguous zones, exclusive economic zones and continental shelves are measured. They are also important in delimiting maritime boundaries with neighboring states. In short, baselines are vital in defining Indonesia’s territory and jurisdiction.
Some may be of the opinion that this deposition should have been done earlier, considering Indonesia was one of the pioneers of the archipelagic state concept which was recognized by the international community in 1982. However, this deposition may still be viewed as an achievement, by which the whole archipelago is now fully enclosed by a complete baseline system. Furthermore, the new baseline system meets legal and geospatial criteria required by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (Schofield and Arsana, 2009).
In June 2009, the Ambalat case, the one that first sparked off in 2005, once again caused tension between Indonesia and Malaysia. Without judging any party, this tension is an indication that borders do matter.
The absence of maritime boundaries in the Sulawesi Sea between Indonesia and Malaysia, among others, is the reason behind this dispute. This serves as a reminder to both parties to keep up the good work in negotiating their maritime boundaries.
As already indicated by both parties, negotiation would be the preferred way to solve the dispute, rather than submitting the case to a third party such as the ICJ or International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). I believe that the Indonesian negotiating team has been doing their best to achieve the best solution for the parties in question. Their efforts require support from the media, to issue news and facts that enlighten the public.
In general, these cases and the build up of tension between Indonesia and its neighboring states in relation to maritime boundary disputes is a clear message how sensitive pending maritime boundaries can be. Indonesia has yet to finalize the delimitation of maritime boundaries with India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Palau and Timor Leste. Previous extensive experience in accomplishing around 17 maritime boundary agreements should be a good reference for Indonesia in continuing the effort to finalize its pending maritime boundaries.
In August 2009, Indonesia succeeded in hosting the World Ocean Conference in Manado that produced the Manado Ocean Declaration (MOD). In addition, there was a meeting on the Coral Triangle Initiative involving Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Timor Leste. Indonesia is the initiator of the program through President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. This is a positive action taken by Indonesia, leading the way toward safeguarding both the sustainable growth of the region’s marine and coastal biological resources and the prosperity of current and future generations.
To sum up, several maritime issues that Indonesia has encountered in 2009 have enriched its knowledge and experience to prepare it for a better-managed ocean in 2010 and beyond. Being an archipelagic state, the ocean is undoubtedly important for Indonesia. That is why being concerned with maritime issues is indispensible. If there are important roles that Indonesia should play in the international arena, the maritime sector should one of them.
The writer is a lecturer in the Department of Geodetic Engineering, Gadjah Mada University and is the author of Beyond Borders. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Wollongong, Australia. This is his personal opinion.
