Bulkers are facing “significant” delays in moving coal shipments out of a number of ports in Indonesia, according to Alphabulk, on the back of newly enforced insurance laws in the archipelago. The latest weekly report from Alphabulk, part of France’s AXS Marine, states that a “raft of ships” are being help up as Jakarta has forced coal exporters to use local insurers. Port authorities are checking exporters and vessels to see if the right insurance is in place leading to the delays.
A second regulation due to come into force on May 1 2020 could have far wider implications, Alphabulk warned. In May next year Indonesian exporters will be forced to use Indonesian-controlled vessels. This is not the first time Jakarta has tried to nationalise raw material exports, something that has failed repeatedly in the past.
Alphabulk data shows Indonesia exports 30m to 35m tons of coal per month, but has a domestic fleet of around 4m tons per month. At the moment around 95% of all coal is shipped from Indonesia on foreign controlled ships.