T

he year of 2014 was a productive year for Indonesia in terms of settling maritime boundaries with its neighbors. Indonesia managed to conclude two maritime boundary agreements in 2014, something that does not happen every year.

The first agreement on the exclusive economic zone boundary with the Philippines was signed on May 23 and the other was the territorial sea boundary with Singapore concluded on Sept. 3. With those two agreements, Indonesia managed to lengthen the already long list of concluded maritime boundaries with its neighbors.

Now, 19 agreements are already in place and this makes Indonesia one of the most productive countries in terms of settling maritime boundaries with its neighbors '€” which is no mean feat.

Indonesia settled its first maritime boundary segment with Malaysia in 1969 but has not yet finalized all the boundaries until today. The maritime boundary with Vietnam, for example, started to be negotiated in 1978 and was finalized only in 2003, a quarter of a century later.

Yet as countries often go to war over boundary conflicts, 19 settled agreements are a good sign of progress and productivity. Furthermore, two agreements in 2014 deserve appreciation. Kudos to the government and its negotiating team.

There are several options to settle maritime boundaries with neighbors and Indonesia has so far chosen bilateral negotiations as the way to go. Bilateral negotiations are also a sign of a good relationship for it requires two countries to sit together and listen to each other.

So far Indonesia has not required help or intervention from third parties in settling maritime boundaries with its neighbors. It may be viewed as an indication of a conducive environment in the region to peaceful dispute settlement.

While tensions are building in different regions, such as the South China Sea, Indonesia and its neighbors manage to maintain good relationships and choose to settle their conflicts peacefully. This can be a lesson learned for other regions facing similar situations.

So what'€™s next? First and foremost, there are some more segments of maritime boundaries left to settle. Among 10 neighbors '€” India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Australia and Timor Leste '€” only with Australia is the delimitation close to 100 percent. With one important note: the 1997 maritime boundary agreement between the two countries has yet to be ratified. With other neighbors, work still abounds where some segments in different places still need delimitation or settlement.

Considering potential conflict resulting from the absence of maritime boundaries with neighbors, boundary settlement should be a top priority on the agenda of President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo.

Secondly, in several places like the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea, sovereign rights over the seabed have been clearly agreed upon with respective neighbors but not that of the water column. Having said that, the entitlement to oil and gas has been clearly defined but this is not the case with the utilization of fish and other sea resources. To prevent confusion, we need faster maritime boundary delimitation for water columns.

The next question is whether or not the future water column boundary line coincides with the existing seabed boundary line. From a legal and technical perspective, they do not have to.

The line dividing water columns can be different from that dividing the seabed or ocean floor, as in the agreements between Indonesia and Australia regarding maritime areas around the Timor Sea.

Should this be the option, there will be ocean space between Indonesia and its neighbors where the seabed is under the authority of the neighbor but the water column above the seabed is under Indonesia'€™s authority '€” as in the aforementioned area of the Timor Sea between Indonesia and Australia.

Fish are clearly for Indonesia and oil and gas are for Australia. One thing that many parties might not be aware of is that sedentary species such as sea cucumber are for Australia. Such legal and technical aspects should become the subject of serious consideration in settling future maritime boundaries.

Thirdly, drawing boundary points and lines with accurate coordinates is not the ultimate goal. Maritime boundaries are there to be enforced. Settled boundaries without management and maintenance will not serve their purpose. This step is called administration, which now becomes very important.

Borrowing the theory of Stephen B. Jones (1845), boundary-making consists of four steps, namely, allocation, delimitation, demarcation and administration. Allocation is a general political decision to define which area belongs to which party; delimitation is the generation of lines on a map to divide the allocated areas, demarcation is the realization of the delimitation line by pillars, monuments, etc. to mark the borders, and the last one is administration to maintain the borders.

In the case of maritime boundaries, administration involves the use of technology, adequate equipment and well-trained human resources.

To sum up, a lot more must be done despite the considerable number of maritime boundary settlements so far. Fencing the ocean now becomes much more important than before, especially when the maritime issue is among the government'€™s top priorities.

Most importantly, settled maritime boundaries are not the end of the story. Administration and management of ocean for the prosperity of the people comes next.

With vast maritime areas comes not only great benefits but also great responsibility for Indonesia.