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Indonesia continues effort to conserve international waters
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi officially opened the Regional Marpolex 2022 at the South Sulawesi Governor’s house on the morning of May 24.
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ransportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi officially opened the Regional Marpolex 2022 at the South Sulawesi Governor’s house on the morning of May 24. The initiative is also known as the Joint Exercise for the Prevention of Regional Oil Spills in the Sea.
Attending virtually, Minister Budi said that as an active International Maritime Organization (IMO) member state, Indonesia had a responsibility to protect the marine environment. The implementation of the Marpolex Regional 2022 is proof of Indonesia’s commitment to that responsibility.
"Indonesia and the Philippines are two of the largest archipelagic countries in the world, and both have something in common, namely a water area that is wider than the land area, so sea transportation plays a very important role as the lifeblood of the national economy," said Budi.
As member countries active in multilateral forums and partnerships, the Indonesian and Filipino governments are collaborating on the Regional Marpolex with support from the government of Japan as a tangible manifestation of regional cooperation, formed to respond immediately to threats caused by oil pollution and environmental conservation efforts in international waters.
Makassar Port was chosen as the initial location of the Regional Marpolex because of its proximity to the Indonesian Archipelagic Sea (ALKI) II Makassar Strait, which is famed for being an international shipping route as well as hosting oil and gas activities, among others.
“This certainly increases the risk of accidents that can result in oil spills that pollute and/or damage the marine environment. Thus, of course, the preparedness of personnel and equipment is needed to overcome shipping disasters in the Makassar Strait area,” he said.
Budi explained that the Marpolex Regional activities were held to test the standard operating procedures in case of an accident, such as an oil spill, as well as to train and improve the cooperation and capability of the personnel of the three countries in terms of observation, security, search and rescue (SAR) operations, extinguishing fires, preventing and overcoming oil spill disasters and overcoming the impacts of oil spills at sea.
The minister also showed his appreciation to the South Sulawesi administration for its support, crediting the success of the activities because of the great synergy and collaboration between the Sea Transportation Directorate General, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) and the South Sulawesi regional administration.
"Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to the government of South Sulawesi, in particular to the governor of South Sulawesi, Andi Sudirman Sulaiman, and all stakeholders involved for their support and participation in Marpolex activities in 2022. Hopefully, Marpolex Regional activities in 2022 can run smoothly, properly and provide the maximum benefits for the protection of the maritime environment,” said Budi.
The acting Sea Transportation director general, who also acts as the head of the Indonesian Delegation, Capt. Mugen S. Sartoto, explained that the Regional Marpolex 2022 would be held for four days, starting from May 24 and ending May 27. Activities would include opening ceremony, a pre-sail conference, planner and controller's meeting, table top exercise and wet training that would include a search and rescue (SAR) operation, fire-fighting operation, oil spill recovery operation, equipment recovery operation, damage assessment operation, a FINEX and sailing pass.
As was done in prior years, this year’s Regional Marpolex will implement a “real-situation” concept to assess the mechanical procedure, flow of command, communication, information delivery and organization of operations in the event of an oil spill.
Other than the local teams for the emergency response to oil spills (in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 109/2006) the Philippine and Japan Coast Guards, the program also invites observers from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Denmark and other countries. The countries included have a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indonesia in terms of the prevention of oil spills.
"I hope this activity is not just a simulation, but can actually test and evaluate the oil pollution control capabilities of each country, especially the preparedness in dealing with large-scale oil pollution events in the border areas of the three countries," concluded Mugen.
South Sulawesi Governor Andi Sudirman Sulaiman hoped that this event would offer a chance to share local wisdom with all participants and invited guests from abroad and become a platform to share each other’s knowledge and experiences.
The Regional Marpolex was first held in 1986 as the implementation of the 1981 Sulawesi Sea Oil Spill Response Network Plan agreement, which was made with the aim of testing and evaluating the capabilities of Indonesia and the Philippines in dealing with oil spill disasters, especially in the territorial waters of Indonesia and the Philippines. The Japanese joined in 1995 to implement the ASEAN Oil Spill Response Action Plan.
The event is held every two years between the government of Indonesia and the Philippines, with the first taking place in Davao, the Philippines, in 1986. The last event was in 2019, which also took place in Davao. The Regional Marpolex was supposed to be held in 2021, however was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
