1. What is the current legal landscape for your practice area in your jurisdiction?

Within the Indonesian shipping law practice, the primary stakeholders refer to Law No. 17 of 2008 concerning Shipping, as amended recently by Law No. 66 of 2025 (the “Shipping Law”), as the principal legal framework governing the public sector. The Shipping Law regulates, inter alia, carriage in waters (including sea carriage, river and lake transport, as well as special sea carriage), port activities (including special terminals and port administration), safety and security (including seaworthiness of vessels, navigation, manning, ship accidents, and related matters), maritime environmental protection (including pollution and waste disposal), as well as shipping-related criminal provisions.

In contrast, for the private sector, the primary references regarding shipping remain the Indonesian Commercial Code (Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Dagang) and the Indonesian Civil Code (Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Perdata), which are legacies of the Dutch colonial legal system. Where a vessel is viewed as an asset, the relevant legal issues concern the sale and purchase of vessels, financing arrangements, security interests, enforcement of security, and disputes, all of which are governed under the Indonesian Civil Code. On the other hand, where a vessel is considered as a means of carriage, the relevant legal discussion concerns carriage documents, contracts of carriage, liability, allocation of liability, and other related matters, which are governed under the Indonesian Commercial Code.

2. What three essential pieces of advice would you give to clients involved in your practice area matters?

Within this practice area, we will advise our clients on the following three key matters:

1) To comply with the applicable laws and regulations, particularly in the field of shipping, for companies conducting shipping activities within the territory of the Republic of Indonesia. This is important considering Indonesia is currently in the process of developing its shipping industry, including enhancing regulatory provisions in the shipping sector to facilitate the needs of stakeholders in the shipping industry. Until such laudable objectives are achieved, based on our experience, there remain certain shortcomings in the existing regulatory provisions, which may at times be detrimental to shipping companies carrying out activities within the waters of the Republic of Indonesia.

One such shortcoming is the absence of a swift mechanism for the resolution of legal violations in the shipping sector. In the event of an alleged criminal offence, the mechanism currently applied adopts the general criminal procedural framework, which may take a considerable amount of time. This inevitably disrupts vessel departure schedules and may result in economic losses for shipowners and/or vessel operators.

2) If a ship accident cannot be avoided, it is important to ensure that, from the moment the accident occurs, the shipowner and/or vessel operator, including the master and crew, are accompanied by parties with legal competence, particularly in the field of shipping law. This is crucial to ensure that the interests of the vessel, the shipowner, and/or the vessel operator, as well as the master and crew, are adequately protected.

3) To always strive to obtain updates on regulations and information in the field of shipping in Indonesia as a measure to avoid the risk of legal violations, disputes, or ship accidents, and to minimise potential losses.

3. What are the greatest threats and opportunities in your practice area law in the next 12 months?

Based on our experience, one of the potential risks that may arise relates to the frequent changes in terms of government policy, which are often implemented to carry out government programmes. This presents a particular challenge for business actors in the shipping sector in Indonesia, as they are required to adapt to new regulatory regimes.

At the same time, it should be noted that opportunities that warrant attention arise in line with the development of Indonesia’s economic sectors, including the production sector, where goods produced will be distributed to consumers, one of the modes of distribution being by sea. Accordingly, the advancement of Indonesia’s industrial sector is believed to be aligned with, and to go in line with, the development of Indonesia’s shipping industry.

4. How do you ensure high client satisfaction levels are maintained by your practice?

In every engagement we undertake, we consistently inform our clients of the activities and progress of the work carried out from time to time, engage in discussions with our clients regarding our findings, explain how such findings may affect our clients’ interests, and advise concerning the steps that must be taken in addressing those findings. We believe that this approach enables our clients to make decisions more effectively.

Moreover, as many of our clients are based in jurisdictions with significant time zone differences to Indonesia, we are confident that the approach we adopt ensures that such time differences do not constitute a significant impediment.

5. What technological advancements are reshaping your practice area law and how can clients benefit from them?

The current technological developments implemented by the Supreme Court have provided significant facilitation in court proceedings, one of which relates to court administrative processes that utilise an electronic system, thereby ensuring that administrative procedures no longer consume excessive time. Our expectation going forward is that these technological developments will continue to improve, such that further efficiencies and conveniences may be realised in the future.