Government bans RI vessels from travelling to Philippines

The government of Indonesia has finally banned Indonesian-flag ships from travelling to the Philippines after two Indonesian tug boats were attacked by the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Saturday.

The paper said that Director General of Sea Transportation at the Ministry of Transportation, A. Tonny Budiono issued on Thursday a decree on the ban.

On Wednesday, two Indonesian tug boats Tugboat Charles and Tongkang Robby 152 (not one as previously reported), owned by shipping firm PT Rusianto Bersaudara, were attacked by the Abu Sayyaf rebel group in southern Philippines, and took seven crew members as hostage.

A few months ago, Indonesian tug boats had also been attacked by the rebel group, prompting the Indonesian Coal Mining Association (ICMA) to urge Indonesian coal miners to suspend export to the Philippines until security condition improves.

Suspension of export to the Philippines would not cause much impact as annual export volume to the Southeast Asian nation is relatively small.

According to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, coal export volume to the Philippines last year totaled 7.6 million tons, down 3.6 percent from 7.9 million tons in 2014. Export volume in the first quarter of this year reached 300,000 tons. (*)