Indonesian, US to Cont. Joint Maritime Exercise in Batam's Training Center

The Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) and the United States Coast Guard (USCG) said they are developing new programs for their joint exercise that will continue upon the completion of maritime training center in Batam, Riau Islands.

During a recent meeting, head of western zone maritime security at Bakamla Hadi Pranoto and delegation from the US Embassy Scott Partin agreed that the two agencies will continue joint training, and in the future, Bakamla and USCG will further develop advanced curriculum, infrastructures, and facilities for the training.

“The training program, which is part of collaboration between Bakamla and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, has been going on well. That’s why in the future, we have a plan to develop training curriculum and materials that will be implemented by Bakamla’s training center,” Partin said on Tuesday, September 6, as reported by Antara.

Bakamla’s Pranoto said the agency and its personnel have been benefitting from the ongoing cooperation with its American counterparts.

As reported previously, in March, the US Ambassador to Indonesia Sung Kim visited Batam to see the construction of maritime training center for Bakamla at the Fleet Base. The center’s establishment is part of bilateral commitment between the two countries on the safeguarding of regional security.

Chief of Bakamla Vice Admiral Aan Kurnia said the training center is the implementation of a memorandum of understanding on Maritime Cooperation agreed by the US and Indonesia on October 24, 2015.

“The memorandum details a number of assistance from the US Coast Guard to Bakamla, especially in capacity and capability enhancement of [Bakamla’s] human resources,” Kurnia said on March 30.