Abstract

Geographically, Indonesia is located at strategic sea-lanes connecting two important oceans, Indian and the Pacific. Continents like Asia, Australia, Africa and America, and Europe have their economic centers in the Asia-Pacific Region.

The Indonesian marine areas are endowed with rich ecosystems as well as a source for food and enrich tourism.

On the other hand, the growth and expansion of hydrocarbon activities in the country, to provide energy, have the tendencies of going "off-shore". These facts and ever growing sea-traffic creates "conflicts" among various development elements and activities which may pose threats to the marine environment in the form of incidental or accidental spills.

Efforts have been made through legal, management as well as provision of resources to prevent the occurrence of marine oil spills, but experience shows that accidents happen, even in developed countries.

Indonesia, as an archipelagic state, with wide spread oil and gas activities throughout the country has endeavoured to set-up a national strategy to safe-guard the preservation of the marine environment, through prevention and capability of preparedness to respond in case of marine oil spill accidents.

This paper presents those efforts, by the Indonesian Government and particularly Pertamina with her partners (PSC's), to take-part and promote cooperation for the preparedness and response to marine oil spill, in relation to the IMO Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Cooperative Convention (OPRC) 1990, which was ratified internationally on May 1996, as well as Agenda 21 of Rio de Janerio UNCED II Conference, June 1992.