TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) is still continuing to dismantle the sea fence in the waters of Tangerang, Banten. Head of the TNI AL Information Service, First Admiral I Made Wira Hady, said that joint officers together with local fishermen had dismantled at least 18.7 kilometers of the mysterious sea fence as of January 27, 2025.

"So the remaining sea fence is 11.46 kilometers out of 30.16 kilometers," said Wira in his written statement, Tuesday, January 28, 2025.

Wira said that his party often experienced obstacles when dismantling the sea fence. One of them, he said, was the weather and high waves.

"(In addition) the bamboos that were stuck up to 2.5 meters with large bamboo sizes, and there were starting to be many fish cages stuck so that they hindered the maneuvers of the towing ship," he said.

The dismantling of the sea fence in the Tangerang Waters was divided into three points, including in the Tanjung Pasir, Kronjo, and Mauk areas. The Indonesian Navy deployed a number of tools to dismantle the sea fence in Tangerang waters, such as 2 Kal/Patkamla, 6 Sea Riders, 12 PK, 5 RBB, 2 RHIB, and dozens of fishermen's boats. The total number of joint team personnel deployed to dismantle the sea fence was 568, consisting of the Indonesian Navy, Bakamla, Polair, and fishermen.

The Indonesian Navy has been dismantling the sea fence since January 18, 2025. The instruction to dismantle the sea fence came from President Prabowo Subianto's order to the Indonesian Navy.

Previously, the Commander of Lantamal III Jakarta, Brigadier General Harry Indarto, predicted that the dismantling of the sea fence could be completed in 10 days. The Indonesian Navy is targeting to remove the unauthorized sea fence along 2 kilometers per day.

According to Harry, the process of removing the sea fence is more difficult than installing thousands of bamboo fences in the sea. Moreover, thousands of bamboo fences have been installed in the waters for months.

This sea fence crosses 16 villages in six sub-districts. Among them are spread across three villages in Kronjo District and Kemiri District and in Pakuhaji District, four villages in Mauk District, one village in Sukadiri District and two villages in Teluknaga District.

The existence of this illegal sea fence has been complained about by local fishermen since two years ago. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries only sealed this sea fence on January 9, 2025 because it did not have a Marine Space Utilization Activity Suitability Approval (KKPRL).

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