M

ay 3, Online

Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul said on Tuesday that the military could not immediately rescue 13 Indonesian sailors currently being held hostage by pirates off the coast of Kenya.

Iskandar said the Singapore-flagged MT Gemini cargo vessel and 13 Indonesian crew members “are therefore completely dependent on the Singaporean government,” he
was quoted as saying by tempointeraktif.com.

He added that the TNI was still waiting for confirmation from the Coordinating Political, Law and Security Affairs Ministry on whether or not the Singaporean government would ask for Indonesia’s help in efforts to release all 25 crewmen onboard the vessel.

MT Gemini was en route to Mombasa, Kenya, from Indonesia, carrying more than 28,000 tons of crude palm oil when it was hijacked, the ship operator said in a statement
on Sunday.

The ship’s crew consists of 13 Indonesians, five Chinese, four South Koreans and three Myanmar citizens.
Iskandar said the TNI would undertake the appropriate considerations if the Singaporean government asked for cooperative assistance in the rescue mission.

“We will be ready. It is preferable if other countries join [the mission], seeing that there are also citizens of other countries who are being held hostage,” he said.

Your comments:

Does the TNI now speak on foreign affairs matters? They are not the elected government nor should they be calling their shots publicly. At least the hijackers will be aware now and take evasive action.

Where is the foreign minister or his spokesperson? Please learn that on delicate matters such as this it is better to strategize behind the scenes and keep your mouth shut, especially when it involves another government.

I really wonder what the TNI is up to with its current attention gathering mode; what is in it for them?

Nairdah
Sydney

The majority of the crew is Indonesian sailors. Thus it is the responsibility of the Indonesian government to rescue them, apart from the fact that the vessel is a Singaporean flagged ship.

RD
Sydney

The West has the capability of tracking a school of fish anywhere in the world. I cannot understand why they are unable to track and destroy the hijackers before they board any vessel.

Sheldon
Probolinggo, East Java

All Singapore-flagged ships or aircraft are considered part of Singapore’s territory. No other country can storm aboard as they like, for it is an act equivalent of invading Singapore itself.

Also, not all the crew members are Indonesian, what if there are casualties, who will answer to the Chinese or South Koreans? There are rules to be observed here, this is not the Wild West.

Many of us only know how to criticize the government and we have become experts at that. When Sinar Kudus was hijacked, we said “the government is not doing anything”, actually TNI ships were actually sent within days of the hijacking.

When negotiations were underway, some said “too slow”, the fact is that other negotiations take many more months to conclude.

When we paid ransom and freed our citizens, some said “why deal with the pirates?”.

The important fact is that all 20 crew members came home safely. When TNI gave chase and shot some pirates, some said “no, the pirates will want revenge”, but wait, isn’t teaching the pirates
a lesson what we all want in the first place?

So far, events have been happening in our favor, and I applaud the TNI and those making decisions, yet many of us are too blind to see this. Those complainers, please tell me, what have you done today to make this country a better place?

Daw
Surabaya