majalah militer

April 12, 2009, Vlissingen, Netherlands -- Indonesian ambassador to The Netherlands J.E Habibie on Saturday saw off the Naval warship "Frans Kaisiepo 368" for its journey to Indonesia after completion of its construction here during the past two years.

This is the forth of Indonesian naval ships built in the Netherland following KRI Diponegoro 365, KRI Hasanuddin 366, and KRI Sultan Iskandar Muda 367, the envoy said, adding it would take 46 days of sailing through the waters of Spain, Italy, Egypt, Jidda (Saudi Arabia), India, Indonesia`s Sabang, Jakarta, and Surabaya.

"The four naval ship presence are expected to strengthen control over Indonesian territorial waters," Habibie said.

According to Habibie, Indonesia is still lacking of naval ships in order to control the integrity, security and defense, and the Indonesian territorial sovereignty.

Sharing opinion with Habibie, the task force commandor, col. Widodo said that the country actually needs about 270 units of naval ships so as to cover all of the country`s territorial waters.

Currently, Indonesia has about 150 naval ships which have been used to guard and control the country`s 81,000 km coastal area or the longest coastal area in the world.

The cost of naval ship`s construction is about 1,700.000 euro. (ANTARA)