JAKARTA: Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia are continuing to strengthen cooperation to improve maritime safety in the straits of Malacca and Singapore.

The cooperation has been carried out through the Tripartite Technical Experts Group (TTEG) forum, which was formed in 1975 by the three countries.

“TTEG is a manifestation of the commitment of the three coastal countries in ensuring shipping safety and maritime environmental protection, as well as to facilitate the movement of ship traffic in the two straits,” director of navigation at the Transportation Ministry’s Directorate General of Sea Transportation, Budi Mantoro, said in a statement issued on Thursday, reported Antara.

Indonesia hosted the TTEG Meeting on the Safety of Navigation in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, in Nusa Dua, Bali on Oct 23 and 24, 2024.

According to Mantoro, since the formation of the TTEG, the three countries have worked well together to produce various initiatives, such as rules for ship movement in both straits, a ship route system integrated with the traffic separation scheme (TSS), and the mandatory ship reporting system (Straitrep).

“These key initiatives have now been further implemented in the Malacca Strait and Singapore Strait, and have received recognition from the global shipping community,” he informed.

He said that during the TTEG meeting, Indonesia actively participated in discussing and providing inputs related to maritime safety in the Malacca Strait.

“We provided several inputs, including the results of a study for the revitalisation of the marine electronic highway (MEH) data centre, which was completed in 2023. The revitalisation work will begin in the first quarter of 2025,” he added.

In addition, he also outlined challenges related to outdated equipment considering that the MEH Data Centre was established in 2012.

At the meeting, Indonesia also submitted reports on the implementation of the 29th and 30th Aids to Navigation Fund Committee meetings as well as the 15th Co-operation Forum meeting.

After the TTEG meeting ended, delegates from the three countries continued with the agenda of the 15th Meeting of the Project Coordination Committee Meeting (PCC) under the Co-operative Mechanism on the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

“This PCC meeting was held to report updates and coordinate the implementation of various project activities carried out within the framework of the Co-operative Mechanism,” he informed.

During the meeting, Indonesia reported on Straits Project 5 on the replacement and maintenance of shipping navigation aids in the straits of Malacca and Singapore.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2024