US pledges support for Indonesia’s drone surveillance in tackling illegal fishing

The US will enable Indonesia’s Maritime Security Agency Bakamla to ‘procure drones, pilot training, and maintenance’ for law enforcement on the seas

Washington is also launching two new programmes that will protect Indonesia’s marine biodiversity, critical mangrove ecosystems

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Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo shakes hands with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of a series of activities at the G20 Indonesia Summit on November 14, 2022. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:03pm, 14 Nov 2022Updated: 6:08pm, 14 Nov 2022

The United States will support Indonesia in strengthening its maritime surveillance drone programme to secure its coastlines from illegal fishing, the White House said on Monday following a bilateral meeting between President Joe Biden and his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo.

Under the newly unveiled cooperation, the US would enable Indonesia’s maritime security agency Bakamla to “procure drones, pilot training, and maintenance that will significantly enhance Bakamla’s capabilities related to maritime domain awareness, maritime law enforcement, and countering illegal fishing”.

“Indonesia is a vibrant and critical, critical partner. As two of the largest democracies in the world, we’re working together to preserve the rule-based system and international order, and to uphold human rights,” Biden said during his meeting with Widodo in Bali ahead of the two-day G20 Summit.

The surveillance programme also underlined the strong defence ties between Indonesia and the US, which last year said it would fund the construction of a US$3.5 million maritime training centre at the strategic meeting point of the South China Sea and Malacca Strait.

Bakamla had said it would use the centre to respond to “the challenges of ensuring security and safety at sea”.

Collin Koh, research fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the programme was not new as Indonesia had been a key beneficiary of US maritime security capacity building assistance under the Southeast Asia Maritime Security Initiative, alongside Vietnam.

“What’s especially significant here is Bakamla’s capacity building, on the whole its own buildup pales in comparison to the [Indonesian navy as] the latter enjoys greater access to funding, given it remains a dominant maritime security institution,” Koh said.

Fishing boats sail past as an Indonesian Navy ship patrols in the water off Nusa Dua, Bali on November 13, 2022. The US will support Indonesia in strengthening its maritime surveillance drone programme to secure its coastlines from illegal fishing. Photo: EPA-EFE