New UK-Indonesia pact targets maritime security and sustainability

The United Kingdom (UK) and Indonesia have put pen to paper on a ‘historic’ £4 billion (approximately $5.2 billion) deal aiming to strengthen maritime resilience and security in both nations.

The agreement, officially announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the recent G20 Summit, is said to underscore the UK’s and Indonesia’s “shared commitment to stability and prosperity” in the Indo-Pacific as well as to upholding freedom of navigation and supporting a rules-based international order.

The partnership is part of the broader strategic partnership that the Prime Minister and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto committed to in November last year.

As highlighted by the Prime Minister’s office, the new Maritime Partnership Programme (MPP), to be led by Babcock, is envisioned to help bolster Indonesia’s shipbuilding capacity and expertise whilst supporting around 1,000 jobs in the United Kingdom, largely at Babcock’s Rosyth shipyard, with further roles at the company’s Bristol site and Devonport dockyard.

To be precise, the MPP will see the two countries jointly create maritime capability for Indonesia’s navy and the building of more than one thousand vessels for its fishing fleets as a means of ‘boosting’ the South East Asian nation’s food security.

The boats are to be constructed in Indonesia with British support. As informed, this initiative is backed by the UK’s Blue Planet Fund, which strives to lend a helping hand to countries that want to protect their marine environment and reduce poverty.

In addition to the abovementioned endeavors, the MPP is reportedly envisioned to drive technology transfer and joint research into ‘next-generation’ shipbuilding practices, including those done via automation-based and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions.

Per the British government, Babcock will further cooperate with educational institutions to share skills in precision engineering, digital ship design, and integrated naval systems.

Most importantly, the UK-Indonesia collaboration will be deployed “in an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable way”, the British government has stressed.

In the midst of trials and tribulations that the maritime industry has gone through over the past years, both in terms of security and, the other end of the spectrum, i.e., sustainability, the United Kingdom has sought to balance the scales of both.

That being said, within the last few months, a particularly sharp focus has been placed on the energy transition and decarbonization—two pieces that simultaneously fit the nation’s security puzzle.

Among the most recent efforts, in mid-September this year, the UK government announced that it would set aside over £1.1 billion (around $1.49 billion) in joint government and industry investments for the maritime industry.

The investment is aimed at green technology, engineering and construction sectors, as well as alternative energy sources such as wind power, hydrogen, ammonia, methanol and electric propulsion solutions.