T

he 21st century is the '€˜'€™World Ocean Century'€, where all countries compete to demonstrate their ability to make claims. President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo has made arrangements to address this issue by initiating the vision of a maritime axis to brace Indonesia for the competition for access to natural resources (mineral and non-mineral), to act as a stabilizing force in the region and to secure trade not only at the national, but also the regional and international level.

Since President Jokowi introduced his maritime axis vision with the objective of making Indonesia'€™s territorial waters the safest corridor in the world for all marine activity, suddenly anything associated with the sea has turned sexy. All ministries without exception want to be involved in implementing the vision and mission of '€œgoing maritime'€ in line with their own perceptions, interests and benefits.

Only with a fleet of cargo vessels (energy and non-energy), fishing boats and passenger ships that are well guarded by patrols and naval force, supported by sophisticated air power, can we ensure not only the integrity and sovereignty of our territory, but also the existence of natural resources and their distribution for the greatest benefit of the people.

The maritime axis vision must clearly be supported by the readiness of a well-equipped naval integrated fleet weapon system (SSAT), comprising warships, aircraft, marines and bases. The capability of the Air Force should serve as an umbrella for the main strength of the Navy supported by the ability to carry out the point defense for anti-aircraft missiles as well as means of air detection to secure the country'€™s sovereignty.

Indonesia'€™s territorial waters are vulnerable to abuse of sea lanes of communications (SLOC) and sea lanes of trade (SLOT). These aspects of military threat overshadow Indonesian waters, including the spillover of power rivalries in the name of national interests, such as those between China and the US.

Given Australia'€™s position in the constellation of the regional energy players, the initiative to build adequate capabilities of outward-facing naval bases can start with the eastern fleet, especially our naval bases (Lantamal) VII and IX as an appropriate force to face Darwin, which lies about 300 km from the islands of Tanimbar. The Masela gas plant development will not be far away from the Australian-owned Caldita-Barossa gas fields.

 The Tanimbar Islands, Maluku, form the eastern end of the Wallacea biogeographical area, the region between Southeast Asia, Australia and Papua. The outer islands bordering with Australia are the island of Yamdena and a small island in front of it; further west lies the island of Sermata, part of Southwest Maluku. The Masela block itself is located to the West of Saumlaki and is about 400 km from Darwin and 800 km from Timor Leste.

As an Indonesian frontier area, the Tanimbar island group is included in the national strategic concept. From the 15th to the 19th century, this territory was contested between colonial countries, such as Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands. Ironically, the islands are well known as '€œthe forgotten islands'€, called so not only because they have been completely forgotten since the president Sukarno era, but also because they were not included on a map for the master plan on accelerated development by the administration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and are still overlooked in the context of Jokowi'€™s sea toll agenda.

Therefore, the development of the Masela block should be done through an offshore LNG (FLNG) scheme in view of the maritime strategy related not only to the use and exploitation of the sea but also to control of the sea.

It is important not to consider the development of the Masela block merely from the technical and commercial aspects of the project itself, but through a holistic policy approach including human living space, for the sake of prosperity, sustainability and environmental preservation of the region itself.

Why? The island is very small compared to Kalimantan, Sumatra or even Java. Not many of those who stubbornly demand an onshore LNG (OLNG) plant realize that Yamdena Island is only 1:223 in size compared to Kalimantan, and 1:38 compared to the area of Java. The population is only 1:141 of the population of Kalimantan and 1:1,070 to the inhabitants of Java. We can imagine the undesirable impact from a sudden influx of thousands of workers and their families on the people of this small island and on the natural environment.

An FLNG would be more conducive for control of the outer islands, because an FLNG will provide flexibility not only in transporting gas to various locations of Indonesia at lower cost, but also because it can be transferred to other gas fields discovered in the future. An FLNG will improve connectivity between islands both in terms of communication and transportation, seaports, airports, etc.

There will be a need to support the movement of supplies for FLNG operations (logistic supply base, offshore supply vessel, crew/supply boats); transport of LNG/condensate to meet the needs of industry and power plants, and of course support economic growth not only of Tanimbar Islands but of the entire province of Maluku.

Supporters of the OLNG concept overlook these aspects. Moreover, an OLNG plant will require an area of 600 to 800 hectares in Yamdena, while this island covers an area of only 3,333 sq km and its small capital of Saumlaki measures only 124.1 sq km in size with a population of only 149,790 people. These people are certainly vulnerable to social conflict with the expected influx of thousands of migrant workers and their families.

An FLNG plant that only require a land area of about 40 to 50 hectares in Saumlaki to accommodate 6,000 FLNG workers will certainly have multiplier impacts on such as activities as flights, car and boat rentals, heavy equipment, stevedoring services, hotels, housing, catering, etc.

The paradigm of Indonesia as a global maritime axis and the development plan of FLNG Masela is an opportunity that should not be lost if we wish to have clear direction and commitment to our concept of ocean frontline force development (Navy) and aerospace (Air Force) along with the welfare of the people of Tanimbar Islands.

Besides, defense is not only about guns, but also about economic prosperity that will derive from the movement of ships and FLNG supply boats and fishing and trade in the cluster of these beautiful and forgotten islands.
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The writer is the president of the Indonesian Institute of Maritime Studies, Jakarta.