"The Indonesian government strongly condemns the incident in which crew members of Indonesian ships were taken hostage by armed groups in the southern Philippines. We cannot tolerate this incident, the third of its kind," Retno Said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Government has banned vessels flying Indonesias flag from sailing to the Philippines following the latest hostage incident.
The Transportation Ministry issued a sailing notice no. 130/VI/DN-16, dated June 24, 2016, to the harbor masters ordering them not to issue permits to Indonesian-flagged vessels intending to sail to the Philippines, the ministrys sea transportation director general, A Tonny Budiono, said here on Friday.
The seaport masters have been strictly ordered not to issue permits for the Philippines-bound vessels without any exception.
The ministry also ordered the navigation district officials to anticipate similar incidents in the future and closely monitor Indonesian waters close to the Philippines.
"Hijacking is a serious crime that cannot be tolerated. Therefore, I ask every district navigation head to instruct every coastal operational radio station (SROP) to monitor and relay as early as possible if there is any indication of danger," Boediono stated.
The ministry has also called for intensified water patrolling.
Earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi had condemned the hostage-taking incident happeing once again. In the latest incident, two armed groups in south Philippines took hostage crew members of Indonesian vessels on June 20, 2016.
"The Indonesian government strongly condemns the incident in which crew members of Indonesian ships were taken hostage by armed groups in the southern Philippines. We cannot tolerate this incident, the third of its kind," Retno warned here on Friday.
Retno informed that the ministry had received confirmation on June 23, 2016 that seven Indonesian ship crew members of Tugboat Charles 001 and Barge Robby 152 had been taken hostage.
The minister disclosed that the incident occurred in two stages: first on June 20, 2016, at 11:30 a.m. local time and again at 12:45 p.m. local time in the Sulu Sea.
Retno remarked that the captors belonged to two different armed groups.
The ships were carrying 13 crew members when the incident occurred. Seven crew members were taken hostage, while six others were freed.
The foreign minister noted that the Indonesian government will take all possible steps to secure release of the hostages.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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