Minister Kalmeta's letter to the Indonesian Minister of transport regarding the Croatian flag vessel 'Mirna'

Ministry of transport
/Directorate General of Sea Communications/
Minister's Office
Gedung Karsa, Lantai 4
Jakarta Pusat 10110
The Republic of Indonesia
Fax: +62 21 381 3269

Subject: m/v „MIRNA“, Flag: Croatia, IMO No. 7908794

Your Excellency,

We were greatly concerned on receiving the information that the Croatian flag vessel “Mirna”, detained by court order in August 2004 in the Tanjung Perak port in Surabaya, was on 22 August 2005 circled by two Indonesian navy speed boats and one warship with weapons targeting the m/v “Mirna”. This happened two months after the final decision was taken by the High Court of East Java, Surabaya, ruling that the vessel had to be returned to her owners. Additionally, there was no intention on the part of the vessel to leave the port and Indonesian waters.

We would like to stress that the Republic of Croatia, the same as the Republic of Indonesia, is a member of the International Maritime Organization and that it has ratified the majority of international maritime conventions. We consider the described actions taken by the Indonesian navy to be inappropriate and hostile, in breach of the principles underlying international maritime conventions and other conventions related to freedom of maritime traffic, especially considering the fact that they were taken against a commercial ship of a friendly country.

We kindly ask your Directorate to take all actions necessary to intervene in this case with other Indonesian governmental bodies and to assure that all regulations of
 
international maritime conventions, especially those related to seafarers, are met by the Indonesian Government and Maritime Administration.

Your urgent reply would be highly appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

Minister

Božidar Kalmeta

Cc.
- International Maritime Organization, H.E. Secretary General
- International Labour Organization, H.E. Director General
- International Transport Workers’ Federation
- MVPEI RH
- Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Indonesia

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