Category: Maritime Boundaries

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Building Fences between Indonesia and Its Neighboring Countries

Indonesia is now accelerating maritime boundary settlement with its neighbors. Negotiations are in queue with several countries including Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Palau, and Timor Leste. The Director General of International Law and Treaty of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented a comprehensive update regarding Indonesia’s journey in finalizing its maritime boundaries with several neighbors. He also made clear points regarding challenges Indonesia is facing in negotiating tables.

On 22 August 2024, I presented my ideas on maritime boundary delimitation between Indonesia and its neighboring countries in Jakarta. It was on the consultation meeting held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. I was there by an invitation in my capacity as a member of the expert team of the technical team of the Indonesian delegation for international maritime boundary delimitation. I have been serving in the team for more than five years now.

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Reimagining Indonesia-China Relationship

I visited China for ten days from 18 to 27 April 2024. The journey covered three cities, two hi-tech companies, a number of government institutions, six academic institutions, various museums, and surely a lot of delicious food. For me, it was the longest working visit to a single country in the last decade or so. I have witnessed a lot and I have learnt a lot.

The visit was made possible due to a program organised by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Jakarta. We, seven Indonesian scholars from different disciplines, took part in the program and each of us is left with deep impression. The journey has helped us understand China better by witnessing closely different events, places, traditions, and listening to different views from Chinese Scholars, government officials and ordinary people. Here is my short note.

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Discussion on the Standard of the Boundary Official Map of Indonesia

A delegate from the Indonesian Geospatial Information Agency visited the Department of Geodetic Engineering on 19 March 2024 to discuss the Standard (SNI) of the Boundary Official Map of Indonesia. I was in particular asked to be a discussion partner for the map being discussed is regarding maritime boundaries. The agency is preparing a new map to be published and they want to make sure they are implementing the latest standard.

I gave some insights on maritime boundary issues for the delegate to understand better. I covered, especially, the history and development of the issue and how Indonesia came up with the current map. I also pointed out some potentially problematic segments that might need close attention when producing the new map. We might see a different map compared to the one we had in 2017 (the latest and current version).

The discussion went well and everybody seemed to manage to learn one thing or two.  Such meeting is important to ensure collaboration between Industry/Government and the academic world. We look forward to working together more.

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Participating at the Australia-ASEAN Maritime Summit in Melbourne

It was a great privilege for me to be invited to the Australia-ASEAN Maritime Summit. From 4-6 March 2024, the Honourable Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister of Australia, hosted leaders from Southeast Asia for the 2024 Special Summit to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN-Australia Dialogue Relations. The Special Summit marked an historic elevation in Australia’s ties with ASEAN, recognised in the Melbourne Declaration – A Partnership for the Future.

a picture with ANCORS alumni participating at the event – ANCORS is my alma mater for PhD

Alongside the Leaders’ engagement, the Special Summit’s success owed much to thematic tracks on Business, Emerging Leaders, Climate and Clean Energy, and Maritime Cooperation. I am happy to be the part of the  the Maritime Cooperation Forum. I was there as an academia, learning about how to foster deeper cooperation between ASEAN and Australia. The Special Summit also helped me build long-lasting connections with scholars from different countries.

The Special Summit program and outcomes not only represented what ASEAN and Australia have jointly achieved over the past fifty years – since Australia became ASEAN’s first Dialogue Partner – but also everything we aim to achieve in the next fifty. For more information, we can visit the Special Summit website at aseanaustralia.pmc.gov.au.

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Teaching Maritime Boundary Issues at NUS, Singapore

The National University of Singapore (NUS), in collaboration with the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) regularly conduct training on maritime boundaries. This year, the training was held on 27-29 February 2024 and I was honored to be of the trainers.

participants and trainers

The Workshop had a record number of 56 participants from diverse professional backgrounds, including diplomats, hydrographers, lawyers and academics. The 2024 Workshop welcomed, for the first time, 9 participants from 5 Pacific Islands Countries: Fiji, Palau, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. ASEAN member states continued their active engagement with this workshop series, with 31 participants in this year’s workshop from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. In addition the program also welcome participants from the Bahamas, Chile, Egypt, Maldives, Oman joining us this year. The Workshop had participants from 22 countries.

me teaching a small group on technical aspects of maritime boundary delimitation

I shared a session with Clive Schofield, my former supervisor, on the technical aspects of maritime boundary delimitation. It was fun. I had to opportunity to share some of my old and new animations to visually explain complex issues of maritime boundary delimitation. I also helped participants during negotiation exercises.  I was so glad to participate and for meeting some good friends.

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Serving as a Panelist for the Presidential Candidate Debate

I started the year of 2024 with a big step, at least for me. I was appointed by the Indonesian General Election Commision (KPU) as a panelist for the 2024 Presidential Candidate Debate. It was the third round with a topic around defence, security, international relations, geopolitics, diplomacy. It seems that my focus of research on maritime boundaries has been the reason of me being picked.

I saw, the assignment as a panellist is an accumulation of my two-decade study on geospatial aspects of the law of the sea, particularly maritime boundary issues. In May 2003, I was involved in a project of border demarcation between Indonesia and Timor Leste. The project brought me to Atambua in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia to conduct Global Positioning System (GPS) campaign. It was an eye-opening experience, where I started to understand the boundary making process and how it really is a multi-disciplinary issue.

I never saw that the small step I took twenty years ago would bring me to the national stage as a presidential candidate debate panelist. To be frank, I am so grateful and also proud. To be able to introduce geospatial issues in a presidential debate, for me personally, is an achievement. I really hope that the moment serve as a starting point of more positive roles in the future.

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Toleransi Berseri di Ujung Negeri

UGM mewajibkan mahasiswa S1 dan D4 untuk mengikuti Kuliah Kerja Nyata (KKN) dan cukup banyak dari mereka yang memilih untuk ber-KKN di pelosok negeri, jauh dari Kampus UGM di Yogyakarta. Tahun ini saya mendapat kepercayaan mendampingi sekelompok mahasiswa untuk ber-KKN di Desa Dalum, Kecamatan Salibabu, Kabupaten Talaud, Sulawesi Utara. Secara singkat, kami biasa menyebutnya KKN Talaud.

Talaud adalah kabupaten paling utara di Indonesia dan sangat banyak orang Indonesia yang bahkan tidak mengetahuinya sama sekali. Setiap kali saya bercerita tentang Talaud, saya harus mengutip lagu iklan Indomie “dari Sabang sampai Merauke, dari Timor sampai ke Talaud”. Menariknya, tidak sedikit yang kemudian heran dan baru sadar bahwa ada kata Talaud dalam lagu itu. Rupanya sangat banyak yang mendengar “dari Sabang sampai Merauke, dari Timor sampai Kota Laut”. Tentu saja maknanya berbeda dan hilang satu titik penting di negeri ini: Talaud, kabupaten paling utara negeri.

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Settling Maritime Borders A Tough Job

Opinion, The Jakarta Post, 24 July 2017

In an official visit to Nunukan, East Kalimantan, on June 13, 2017, Ambassador Eddy Pratomo, the Special Envoy of the President for the Determination of Indonesia-Malaysia Maritime Boundaries, informed the progress of his assignment. He clearly noted that the two countries are now working hard toward the definition of fence at sea between them and some progress have been made.

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Diplomasi Kartografis di Laut Natuna Utara

Opini Kompas, 24 Juli 2017

Pemerintah Indonesia, melalui Kemenko Maritim telah mengeluarkan Peta Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia (NKRI) terbaru. Indonesia memang secara berkala mengeluarkan Peta NKRI. Yang istimewa dari Peta NKRI 2017 ini adalah adanya usulan penamaan ruang laut yang tadinya dikenal sebagai bagian dari Laut China Selatan (LCS), menjadi Laut Natuna Utara (LNU). Indonesia rupanya menggunakan kartografi sebagai ilmu dan seni pembuatan peta sebagai alat diplomasi.

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ICST: The Roles of Oil Concession Definition in Maritime Boundary Delimitation

I was invited to as one of the keynote speaker at the Geomaritime Symposium at the International Conference on Science and Technology (ICST) organised by Universitas Gadjah Mada. I delivered a paper on 12 July 2017 and share a stage with my two colleagues, Gede Karang from Udayana University and Mas Aji from a university in Malaysia. Here is my abstract:

The Roles of Oil Concession Definition in Maritime Boundary Delimitation:
A Critical Review on the Case of the Sulawesi Sea and the South China Sea

I Made Andi Arsana
madeandi@ugm.ac.id

Department of Geodetic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia

ABSTRACT

In the absence of agreed maritime boundaries, States usually have their unilaterally claimed boundary lines. In many cases, these lines represent the most forward possible line such States would want to he the final boundary lines. Thus, such lines are also known as forward positions, which are usually used by coastal States as their initial position in negotiating their maritime boundaries. In the case of Indonesia’s maritime boundaries, for example, these forward positions have been depicted clearly on its official map so they become obvious to its neighbours.

In the Sulawesi Sea, where maritime boundaries between Indonesia and Malaysia are pending, both States, using oil concession definition, have proposed their maritime claims defined by their forward positions. Indonesia, on one side, utilises oil concession it defined since the 1960s in defining its forward position. Malaysia, on the other hand, started to define its forward positions and then define oil concessions within those forward positions. The utilisation of oil concession definition to represent maritime claims has also been the case in the South China Sea as demonstrated by, for example, China and Vietnam.

This research presentation analyses the roles of oil concession definitions in defining forward position and how they may affect the delimitation of maritime boundaries between coastal States. The cases in the Sulawesi Sea and the South China Sea are investigated with reference to relevant cases in different parts of the world. Findings and conclusions are then presented.

Here is the cover of my presentation: