The Indonesia-flagged boat that had seven of its 13 crewmen abducted by armed militants in the waters of southern Philippines did not adhere to the government's ban on sailing through the Sulu Sea, which is rife with pirates, a minister has said.

"There actually had been a ban in place. They were just being defiant," Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com.

Ryamizard said he did not know why the shipping company dismissed the government-issued ban to traverse through the waters in the southern Philippines despite the numerous kidnappings in the area in the past few months. The tugboat Charles and its barge Robby were sailing back to Samarinda, East Kalimantan, from Tagoloan, Philippines when it was attacked twice in less than two hours.

The minister said he, along with Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan, would summons in the near future the owners of the boats that ignored the ban. Ryamizard said he would give a strong warning and direct them to take safer routes.

"Because it would be pointless if they continued to ignore it. We have instructed to go through safe lanes, yet they still chose unsafe ones, so it happened again," he said in reference to the kidnappings, which have occurred in the same area three previous times.

Source:
courtesy of THE JAKARTA POST

by The Jakarta Post

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