Offshore vessels may operate until 2011
Monday, November 29 2010 - 02:40 AM WIB
Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono said the regulation was in response to the fact that national shipping companies have yet to own certain offshore vessels due to the very high price. There were only four or five companies in the world that own such vessels, Bambang said. But if there were national companies that could provide such vessels, he said, the situation would be different. The point is, he said, the government would prioritize national fleet.
Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said the government would accommodate upstream oil and gas operator BPMIGAS to amend the shipping law and give an exception to several vessels like rig vessels not to meet the cabotage policy. The policy obliges all vessels to have Indonesian flags. Transportation Ministry Director of Sea Transport, Leon Muhammad, said the ministry would discuss with stakeholders before proposing for amendment to the House of Representatives.
Chairman of the Indonesian National Shipowners Association (INSA) Johnson W. Sujipto blasted the oil and gas companies as the culprit in the extended delay. He urged the government to issue an action plan so that there would be no more delay on the implementation of the cabotage policy, which he said would benefit the state.
INSA executive Paulis Djohan regretted the government?s move, saying the government lacked the understanding on the issue. He added that INSA should have been consulted for the matter.
Sugiman Layanto, managing director of shipping company PT Wintermar Offshore Marine Tbk, said many national companies have the capability to buy big-scale vessels but the government was not supportive in terms of legal certainty. Sugiman, also an executive of INSA, said the government should follow Malaysia and India who strongly support national players in the sector by prioritizing them in the tenders.
Oentoro Surya, chairman of the Shipping, Port and Maritime Environment Society (MAPPEL), denied that national companies had been unable to provide the vessels needed by oil and gas sector. He said oil and gas companies did not open a special tender for Indonesian-flag companies nor did they give them a long-term contract. Without a long-term contract, he said, it would be impossible to purchase required vessels.
Data from BPMIGAS showed there were 531 offshore vessels operating in the country as of July 2010, 88 percent of which carried Indonesian flags. The foreign fleet controlled 56 percent of the annual rental fee that totaled at US$1.25 billion. Out of the 63 foreign vessels, 47 of them have their contracts ended before Jan. 1, 2011, while the rest still has the contract beyond that date.(*)