Piracy To The Mv Sinar Kudus Ships In Somalia’S Waters
Piracy or ship hijacking is an illegal act by force by detention or damage in order to have the goods that other people have or other countries have illegally carried out by passengers or other ship crews. One case of piracy occurred in the MV Sinar Kudus, a ship owned by PT Samudra Indonesia, which occurred in Somalia waters on March 16, 2011.
The ship was hijacked by Somali pirates and used as a hijack carrier operating north to the Gulf of Oman. The MV Sinar Kudus ship was hijacked by Somali pirates while carrying 20 crew members with the weight of 8,911 tons of ships commanded by Captain Slamet Djauhari on the way from Pomala, South Sulawesi to Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The vessel is used to carry nickel seeds worth Rp. 1.4 trillion. At that time, Slamet had asked all the crews to raise their awareness because the MV Sinar Kudus ship would enter Somali waters. It was seen that other ships were speeding towards the Sinar Kudus ship, so that the wake-up ship tried to avoid it. However, the attempt failed. The ever-increasing number of pirates managed to control. Sinar Kudus has tried to contact the PT Samudra Indonesia head office located in Jakarta and the security command in Somalia, but nothing.
After receiving the hijacking report, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gave a direct to heald a meeting and order to release on March 18, 2011. The results of the meeting were delivered. The three actions are to free ship with special operations if the ship is in the middle of the sea, preparing a backup plan if the ship is anchored in the Somali region by studying developments, and sending 2 frigates and special forces. Indonesia is a sovereign country, therefore Indonesia has an obligation to guarantee the safety of its citizens who are in the territory of the Republic of Indonesia and in other countries. This hijacking also triggers the Indonesian government to be more serious to fulfill their responsibilities. The government chose to take the negotiation route and pay the ransom which was also supported by the Indonesian Seafarers' Union. Negotiations are carried out with consideration to the safety of the crews. However, this is not the only solution that can be applied, but an alternative. Another solution applied by the jurisdiction attached to the case. And put military operations on the last solution.
Negotiations were conducted on April 13, 2011 with ransom adjustments. However, pirates are not as easy as that of releasing The MV Sinar Kudus’s crews. On April 28, 2011 the pirates increased the ransom value. On April 30, 2011 troops including Kopaska supervised the delivery of ransoms using aircraft dispansers. After 20 hours of checking, information was obtained from a hijacker that the dollar was worth Rp.38.7 billion. Until finally, the MV Sinar Kudus was truly freed by Somali pirates. This success is confirmed through communication between PT Samudera Indonesia as the owner of the ship with the crew on board. Certainty was also obtained from the verification of the members of the DS I / 2011 Task Force which accompanied the MV Sinar Kudus ship. The MV Sinar Kudus resumed the voyage to Wa Salala, Oman, to then continue the voyage to Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Meanwhile 20 Indonesian crew will be returned to Indonesia by airplane and are expected to arrive in the country.
In my opinion, piracy and encoding of ship’s crews like this is a precarious thing and cannot wait for a long time because it will have an adverse effect on the victim and the ship used. The limitations and shortcomings of ship technology sent by the Indonesian government hamper the speed of the ship to reach destinations that require 2 weeks. We recommend that the government further improve the technology that will be sent to overcome this kind of problem to be more alert.
In this case the TNI and the government took too long to hold meetings and make decisions. The TNI should immediately send troops after receiving news of piracy, but the decision and the operation must wait for a presidential decree.
The government is not strict with the TNI which has been given authority in responding to negotiations and payment of hostages out of the initial agreement so that the pirates raise the agreed ransom.
After the release of the crew, the government did not conduct evaluations of the deficiencies. Evaluations are held to correct deficiencies so that they do not happen again. The government only announced the success of the operation.
