TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Transportation Ministry’s Directorate General of Sea Transportation launched two units of navigational ships on Friday, December 16, 2016.

The ships built in 2015 by PT Dumas Tanjung Perak Shipyards in Surabaya are called KN Kunyit and KN Maratua. Both ships will be based in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, and Tarakan, North Kalimantan.

“The ships are expected to strengthen the navigational ship fleet and boost the reliability of the Aids to Navigation (SBNP) in order to ensure the safety and security of Indonesian waters,” Tonny Budiono, director general of sea transportation at the Transportation Ministry, said in a press release on Friday, December 16, 2016.

Since 2015, the Directorate General of Sea Transportation has built 20 units of navigational ships, including two units of Perambuan Mother Ship recently launched by Dumas Tanjung Perak Shipyards. The shipbuilding activities were aimed at replacing outdated navigational ships.

Tonny explained that Indonesia would need personnel to operate dozens of navigational ships. Therefore, he hopes that human resources in the shipping sector must be well-prepared along with the shipbuilding activities.

“I hope that these ships can be well-maintained so that they can be reliable in serving navigational tasks,” he said.

INGE KLARA