LONDON (ISL News) – As a member of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council, Indonesia through the Ministry of Transportation, in this case the Directorate General of Sea Transportation, attended the 132nd IMO Council Session held at the IMO Headquarters in London, England from Monday (8/7) to Friday (12/7).
The 132nd IMO Council session was chaired by Victor Jimenez Fernandez from Spain and focused on discussing the agenda of IMO Strategy, planning and reform, IMO Resource Management, Budget 2025-2026, consolidation of the texts of IMO conventions, IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS), and Reports of several previous IMO Committee Sessions.
Antoni explained that Indonesia is one of the co-sponsors of this document, along with Malaysia and Singapore. In 2023, Singapore will host the CF 14, TTEG 46 and PCC 14 meetings, followed by the Extended TTEG 46 on January 30, 2024. Meanwhile, in 2024, Indonesia will host and plan to hold a meeting on October 21-25, 2024 in Bali. Indonesia is currently the Chair of the Aids to Navigation Fund (ANF) Fund Secretariat for the 2022-2024 period, and its report is also included in this document.
In addition, Indonesia is also a co-sponsor of document C132/16 (d)/1 External Relations, IMO Awards, Improving the recognition of women contributing to the work of the Organization. This document reports on the nomination of candidates for the 2023 International Maritime Prize and the 2024 IMO Honors for Exceptional Bravery at Sea, as well as on the arrangements for the 2024 Prize and this year's Awards.
In this regard, the Indonesian Government supports China's proposal regarding the revision of the IMO Council Circular on the International Maritime Prize (IMP), which will be submitted at this Session to strengthen the commitment and recognition of the role of women in the gender equality agenda in the maritime sector.
Furthermore, Indonesia also became a co-sponsor of Document C132/21/3 Supplementary Agenda Items, if Any (d) Consideration of the Recognition, Observance and Designation of Eid al_Fitr and Eid al-Adha as official holidays at IMO.
In addition to attending the trial, Antoni said that Indonesia will also carry out several agendas on the sidelines of the trial, including depositing the Instrument of Ratification of the Amendment to the IMO Convention, 2021 and promoting the proposal for the Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) of the Lombok Strait by sponsoring the Coffee Break.
"We also submitted a proposal for the names to receive the 2025 IMO Gender Equality Awards, namely Dr. Chandra Motik Yusuf Djemat and Carmelita Hartoto," said Antoni.
BILATERAL MEETINGS with CHINA and UAE
On the sidelines of the IMO Council 132 Session, Indonesia had the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings with several countries, such as bilateral meetings with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China to discuss cooperation in the Shipping, Flag State and Port State Implementation sectors which were held on Tuesday afternoon (8/7).
This bilateral meeting was held according to Antoni following up on data where as of May 2024 there were 1,192 Indonesian sailors working on Chinese ships. In addition, based on the recapitulation of cooperation agreements between Indonesia and China in the maritime sector, the two countries have also had an agreement and are still ongoing, especially the MoU Concerning Recognition of Seafarer's Certificate under Regulation I/10 of the STCW Convention.
However, Antoni continued, the existing MoU is only a unilateral recognition, where Indonesia recognizes the Chinese Sailors' certificates and not vice versa.
"Therefore, we suggest to improve or change the provisions of the MoU to Mutual Recognition of Seafarers' Certificates by both Contracting States, of course while still respecting each other's sovereignty and governance," explained Antoni.
Antoni added that currently the Directorate General of Sea Transportation and the Maritime Safety Authority (MSA) of China are jointly drafting an MoU regarding the implementation of Port State and Flag State.
"This MoU can build and strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries by implementing beneficial principles, therefore we hope that this MoU can be signed soon," he said.
(ISL News Editorial Team/Hubla/MYN/MM/BOH/email:islnewstv@gmail.com).
