In order to enhance security in the Strait of Malacca, one of the busiest trade routes in the world, the Indonesian Navy launched two new fast patrol boats at the Batu Ampar seaport on Batam Island, Riau Islands province, on Thursday.

Navy chief of staff Adm. Ade Supandi led the inauguration of the 40-meter patrol boats equipped with cannons with calibers of 20 mm and 12.7 mm purchased from Italian defense company OTO Melara.

The two boats were built by the private Batam-based ship manufacturer PT Karimun Anugrah Sejati and were named the KRI Torani 860 and the KRI Lepu 861.

The two boats are to patrol around the Navy’s Western Fleet, especially in the Strait of Malacca, to minimize rampant smuggling and piracy, as instructed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

“The situation in the Strait of Malacca is much safer now, as observed by the Western Fleet Quick Response [WFQR] team, but there are still smuggling attempts,” Ade said on Thursday.

The Navy hoped that the safer situation in the strait would improve the economic activities there, as well as attract investors.

“Smuggling is the most rampant crime in the Strait of Malacca. It has happened for hundreds of years since the Dutch colonial era. Locals call it lanun,” he added.

The latest known piracy incident in the Strait of Malacca was in late December last year when the Navy arrested six people who were allegedly attempting to hijack a foreign tanker.

Almost half of the world’s total seaborne trade passes through the strait, which borders Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, each year.

Intensified maritime patrols and crackdowns against pirates had helped decrease the number of hijackings and thus made the seas around the strait safer.

Ade explained further that the Navy would continue to add more 40-meter and 60-meter patrol boats to its fleet to replace old ones. The Navy has already procured half the number of patrol boats it planned.

The Navy wants 42 40-meter boats stationed in 14 of its bases nationwide. Currently, it only has 19 in operation.

“I have instructed that all the patrol boats be assigned in every base,” he said.

The two newly launched patrol boats in Batam had cost Rp 65 billion (US$4.9 million) each. The boats are 45.5 meters long, 7.9 meters in width, have a maximum speed of 29 knots and are able to sail for six days before refueling.

President Director of PT Karimun Anugrah Sejati Batam Franky Sucipto told The Jakarta Post that his company had finished creating the platform for the boats and equipped them with the 20 mm caliber gun on the prow and a 12.7 mm caliber gun on the stern.

“The weapons were imported from an Italian producer. We finished making the ships within 22 months,” Franky said.

The commander of the Tanjung Pinang Navy base, First Admiral S. Irawan, said that security in the Strait of Malacca had been better.

“Singapore has appreciated Indonesia’s efforts in this situation,” Irawan said.

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