Luhut to Summon British Ambassador over Coral Reef Incident

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that he will summon the British Ambassador to Indonesia on Thursday, March 16, 2017, in relation to the damage caused by British-flagged cruise ship MV Caledonian Sky to coral reefs in Raja Ampat, Papua.

“I will summon the [British] Ambassador tomorrow,” Luhut said at his office in Jakarta on Wednesday, March 15, 2017.

Luhut revealed that the UK implements a law that imposes a heavy administrative sanction to a ship captain committing violations. Luhut added that the Ministry will send a team to review the damage caused by the cruise ship on March 4, 2017.

The Indonesian government has formed a joint team consisting of a number of institutions to investigate the case, namely the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Ministry, the Marine and Fisheries Ministry, the Environment and Forestry Ministry, the Transportation Ministry, the Tourism Ministry, the Law and Human Rights Ministry, the Attorney General’s Office, the National Police and the local government.

“We’ll send a team there, but the related ministries have [sent their own teams]. We need to know,” Luhut said, adding that the Ministry will investigate how the cruise ship can enter the Raja Ampat waters.

Luhut also promised that he would evaluate regulations at the regional and national levels that might cause the incident.

“This is a lesson. We want to conduct a full investigation in regions to prevent this incident from recurring,” Luhut said.

Maritime Affaris Ministry’s deputy of maritime sovereignty Ari Havas Oegroseno said that his institution will also work with the Foreign Affairs Ministry to investigate the damage to the coral reefs in Raja Ampat.

Arif added that although MV Caledonian Sky is owned by a British company, the government of the country will be involved in the investigation under an international law.

Arif revealed that his institution has been in communications with the Foreign Affairs Ministry to push the county to help with the issue, since Indonesia has no diplomatic relationship with the British Commonwealth country located in the Caribbean territory.

“I met people from the Foreign Affairs Ministry this morning, because we don’t have a Bahamian representative here. We also don’t have an embassy in Bahamas,” Arif pointed out.

Since the issue is related to the navigational safety, the government will also consult the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The Indonesia government, Arif revealed, has planned to file criminal and civil lawsuits in relation to the case. According to Arif, compensations that may be paid by insurance company will not absolve the criminal side of the case.

ANTARA | MITRA TARIGAN