During their mission as UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, KRI Frans Kaisiepo-368 personnel carried out maritime interdiction operation (MIO) activities 18 times, inspected 1,405 ships, proposed ship inspections 170 times and stayed at sea for 180 days, spokesman for the Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) Commodore Tri Prasodjo said on Sunday.
KRI Frans Kaisiepo is the second Indonesian warship sent to Lebanon to replace KRI Diponegoro-365. KRI Sultan Iskandar Muda-367 will later take over the task of KRI Frans Kaisiepo in Lebanon.
Earlier, National Defence Force (TNI) Chief Admiral Agus Suhartono said the Indonesian military would send another warship to join the UNIFIL maritime task force in Lebanon.
"Since 2010 we have sent two warships, namely KRI Diponegoro and KRI Frans Kaisiepo to join the maritime task force of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon," he said at a function marking the International Day of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Jakarta recently.
He said Indonesian warship KRI Iskandar Muda would leave Indonesia for Lebanon in August 2011 to replace KRI Frans Kaisiepo-368.
UN data show Indonesia now ranks 17th in terms of sending troops joining the UN peacekeeping missions. By April 2011, Indonesia sent a total of 1,801 troops and 1,772 police personnel to join UN peacekeeping missions.
Bangladesh tops the list of countries sending troops to join UN peacekeeping missions, with 10,589 troops, followed by Pakistan with 10,581 troops and India with 8,442 troops.
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Editor: AA Ariwibowo
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
