Daewoo to bid on Indonesian submarine deal


June 9, 20009, Jakarta -- South Korea's Daewoo International Corp. (KSE:047050), said Sunday it plans to bid for a contract worth about US$1.2 billion to build two diesel-powered submarines for Indonesia.

Daewoo International has said it will submit specifications to supply two 1,400-ton diesel electric Type-209 submarines to Jakarta.

The hulls of these vessels could cost $350 million apiece with critical sonar and combat management systems pushing the total price to $600 million.

The ships to be built are a modified version of the Chang Bogo class currently in service in the South Korean Navy. Seoul operates nine such vessels that were built in the country using designs provided by Germany's Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW).

(ANTARA News/Asia Pulse)

M`sian defense ministry to propose closing off Ambalat waters


June 8, 2009, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia -- The Defense Ministry will propose to the Malaysian and Indonesian governments to close off the waters around Ambalat near Sabah to patrol boats from both countries until the overlapping claims on the waters have been resolved.

Defense Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said as the issue involved a claim of sovereignty by both governments, the proposal was seen to be appropriate to avoid more controversy.

"If we were to carry out patrols in the area, we will be accused of trespassing and the same accusation will also be made if the Indonesians were to conduct their own patrol.

"So, it`s better that both countries concerned do not carry out patrols until the issue over the overlapping claims has been resolved," he told reporters after opening a seminar, here Sunday.

Ahmad Zahid said this when commenting on Indonesian media reports that Malaysian warships were encroaching into the waters recently.

He said the Malaysian government too had detected that Indonesian warships had encroached into Malaysian waters on 13 occasions but the government was not making it into an issue as it did not want to cause tension.

(ANTARA News/Bernama)

RI`s navy to get another submarine: legislator

Indonesia submarine KRI Cakra.

June 8, 2009, Jakarta -- The Indonesian Navy will soon get another submarine, Yusron Ihza Mahendra, deputy chairman of Commission I of the House of Representatives, said here on Sunday.

"The plan has already been discussed in a meeting between a House`s Commission I delegation and the government led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Saturday evening," Mahendra told ANTARA.

The joint meeting was also attended among others by the coordinating minister for political, legal and security Affairs, the defense minister, the chief of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), the National Police chief, the law and human rights minister, the deputy foreign affairs minister, and the chief of the Indonesian Intelligence Agency (BIN).

Among members of the House`s Commission I who attended the meeting were Yusron Ihza (Pioneer Star joint faction, concurrently the team`s chairman), Happy Bone Zulkarnaen (Golkar faction), Andreas Pareira ( Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle/PDIP), Joko Susilo (National Mandate Party/PAN), Shidiq Wahab (Democratic Party), as well as Chairman of the Commission I Theo L Sambuaga (Golkar Party).

The meeting also discussed the need to increase the defense budget, including a plan to increase the number of submarines, he said.

The discussed issues on the Ambalat block conflict involving Indonesia and Malaysia.
"And the Indonesian Government has given support to our delegation which has made diplomatic contacts in Kuala Lumpur," he said.

"The President on behalf of the Indonesian government has expressed full support to the steps taken by the House`s Commission I delegation to go to Malaysia in connection with the Ambalat issue," he said.

"The Commission I in the meeting emphasized the need to rebuild the domestic defense industry, and the proposal was welcomed by the President," Yusron Ihza Mahendra said.

(ANTARA News)

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