A number of obsolete vessels were moored at Benjina Port, Aru Islands, Maluku, on Saturday, June 8, 2024. Among them was the KM Antasena, an ex-foreign vessel from Thailand that had disappeared when the moratorium on ex-foreign vessels was first enforced in 2014. After 10 years, the yellow and red paint that previously covered the vessel’s hull now appears to have faded. Meanwhile, the wooden parts of the vessel were weathered and the iron seemed to be starting to wear off.
When Jaring.id and Tempo visited the port, which is now managed by PT Industri Perikanan Arafura (IPA), no fishing activity was visible. The refrigerators in the storage warehouse were even starting to rust.
Benjina Port has a capacity of 750 GT with a dock length of 62 meters. A decade ago, Benjina was the heart of economic activity in the Aru Islands. The hustle and bustle of this port declined in 2015, after several cases of slavery and human trafficking that occurred there were brought to light.
Seven years later, in June 2022, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono signed a Ministerial Decree that allowed Benjina Port to be managed by the private sector. Despite the decree, however, Benjina did not immediately start to thrive. According to PT IPA Director Agus Kurniawan, the port’s facilities were still being repaired. “We are trying to repair several vessels gradually. However, after trying to operate them, there are still obstacles, especially in the engine and cooling system. So we need a more comprehensive evaluation to overcome these obstacles,” he said in a written response dated Sunday, 22 September 2024.
“There is already one cold room with a capacity of 400 tons, and we are almost finished with adding two more cold rooms,” he added.
But one of the Benjina managers we met at the location, Zuhri Sugiat, said that the repair of the facilities had only started after Trenggono was about to launch the Measured Fishing (PIT) modeling program in Benjina on Monday, June 3, 2024, or five days before we visited the port. “This port was just repaired when the minister came. Everything was rushed, almost 60 people were working on it [at the same time],” he said.
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Benjina is not the only port that has received special treatment from the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry. Trenggono also signed a Ministerial Decree allowing the private sector to manage Tual Port, also in Maluku. The decree was also marked by the Minister’s visit to the port on Sunday, June 2, 2024. At the private port owned by PT Samudera Indo Sejahtera (SIS), he also launched the PIT program.
We had the opportunity to monitor the minister’s activities at the port, which involved 187 vessels from the North Coast of Java (Pantura). About 30 minutes before the event took place, the crew standing on the KM IGP 18 owned by PT Insani Gemilang Pualam—a subsidiary of Artha Graha Group, unloaded fish from the vessel.
Three blue and red vessels with hull codes TMP 51, 52, and 53 were docked on the pier. Data from the Ministry of Transportation recorded that the vessel had a gross tonnage of 220 GT and used bagged shrimp net fishing gear.
Siswo Purnomo, a fisherman from the Paguyuban Mitra Nelayan Sejahtera – fishermen’s association based in Pati, Central Java – stated that the bagged shrimp net that had been permitted by the government was no different from a trawl net. “We, as actors in the fishing business, are worried about the operation of shrimp trawlers in WPP 718,” he said via WhatsApp message on Wednesday, October 9, 2024.
The Pantura Fishermen’s Movement (GNP) also complained about the same thing. GNP Coordinator Kajidin said that the use of shrimp trawl nets has a negative impact on the marine ecosystem; in fact, shrimp trawl nets can damage other fishermen’s nets. “[The nets] will hit our fishing gear and damage it. The fish will also run out. Because the fishing gear is not environmentally friendly,” he said via telephone, Thursday, October 10, 2024.
A number of fishermen we met stated that the TMP vessel was easy to recognize because it was not a new vessel. The three are ex-foreign vessels formerly known as the Wogekel 21, Wogekel 23, and Wogekel 17 and are owned by PT Dwikarya Reksa Abadi or the Dwikarya Group.
The government revoked the fisheries business license (SIUP) and fishing permits of PT Dwikarya Reksa Abadi in 2014. Dwikarya had challenged the decision at the State Administrative Court. However, the results of the appeal upheld the ministry’s decision.
The analysis and evaluation (ANEV) document prepared by Task Force 115—a Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry work unit formed to eradicate illegal fishing—mentioned a series of violations committed by Dwikarya. Starting from paying below the provincial minimum wage (UMP), bribing law enforcement officials, employing foreign crews, transshipment, using illegal trawl fishing gear and fuel, smuggling alcoholic beverages and electronic goods, and smuggling protected animals from Maluku and Papua.
Now, the Wogekel vessel has been re-registered with the hull name TMP and claimed to have different fishing gear. The owner is PT. Trinadi Mina Perkasa which was established in August 2021. Trinadi obtained a Fisheries Business License in January 2022. Data from the ministry notes that this company applied for a new SIUP a month later. However, the application was repeatedly rejected for various reasons and was only approved in April 2024. A month later, Trinadi’s new business permit and the permits for the two TMP vessels were re-issued by the ministry.
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At the beginning of its establishment, most of Trinadi’s shares were owned by PT. Indo Mina Lestari which was formed a month earlier. Rino Febrian, son-in-law of State Secretary Pratikno, also invested in Indo Mina in April 2022. Later, Indra Nugroho Trenggono, son of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, was also listed as an owner.
Industry insiders operating in the fisheries management areas (WPP) 718, 714, and 715 said that Rino and Indra were known in the fisheries business in Eastern Indonesia. Direct evidence of the pari’s partnership is only recorded through share ownership in Indo Mina. However, Indo Mina’s ownership network is connected to various other fisheries companies.
Various attempts to contact Indra and Rino have been made. On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, we visited Indra’s residence in Bekasi, West Java. However, Indra was not at home and the letter was received by Indonesian Navy officers who were guarding the house.
The day before, on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, we also visited Rino’s address, which was listed in the company deed. However, Rino was also not at home.
Two weeks later, on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, we also visited the Indo Mina Lestari office in South Jakarta. The office seemed quiet, and on the wall behind the reception desk were the names of companies that had offices at that location. In addition to Indo Mina Lestari, there were also the names PT. Indo Numfor Pacific and PT Trinadi Mina Perkasa.
The company manager, Afi, said that Indra and Rino were rarely seen at the office. He also said that Indo Mina Lestari was a holding company for other companies that had offices there. He confirmed that the other companies were also owned by Indra and Rino.
On the same day, we visited the PT Global Seafood Indonesia office on the 6th floor of Plaza 3 Indah, Pondok Indah, South Jakarta. Rino is listed as a director and shareholder in the company. However, when we went to the floor in question, we only found an empty, dark, and stuffy room. The building receptionist said that Global Seafood never had an office in the building. Tri Yulianto, the building’s security guard, said the same thing. “It never existed, it’s empty. The address is correct, but the company doesn’t exist,” he said.
In a written response dated Monday, October 7, 2024, State Secretary Pratikno acknowledged that his son-in-law had entered the fisheries business. “[The fisheries sector] has not been developed properly. It is rare for young people to want to dive into that field,” Pratikno said.
As long as they comply with existing regulations, Pratikno claimed that the business partnership carried out by his son-in-law was not improper.
“[T]he relevant officials, from the technical level up to the decision makers, have given their permission. That means he has gone through the established procedures,” he said.
In his written response, Pratikno said that he did not interfere in his children’s professional lives. He also denied the potential for a conflict of interest between his position as State Secretary and the fisheries businesses run by his son-in-law.
“I have never been involved in the professional lives of my children. After all, they’re the ones who understand the sector they are engaged in better. None of my children have entered business areas related to my authority as State Secretary,” he said.
Meanwhile, our various attempts to contact Sakti Wahyu Trenggono were fruitless. On three different occasions, he avoided us when we wanted to ask questions. Instead of answering directly, he asked us to contact his staffer, Wahyu Muryadi, instead.
Wahyu acknowledged the involvement of Trenggono’s children in the fisheries business. However, he claimed that Indra’s businesses were small-scale. “His business is betta fish and it does not make much money. Rino’s [main] business is trading,” he said.
The trade data that we accessed through Panjiva recorded that PT. Maluku Prima Makmur shipped 373 tons of tuna worth US$423,900 (equivalent to Rp6.6 billion) in 2022. The following year, the company shipped 547 tons of tuna worth US$583,500 (Rp9.1 billion). MPM is a company that is 55% owned by Indo Mina Lestari.
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Three sources said that the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, has long wanted to get into the fisheries business. In 2015, he met with then-minister Susi Pudjiastuti. Trenggono asked Susi to grant him a permit to operate vessles in the Arafura Sea. The request was rejected because the ministry was implementing a moratorium on permits for ex-foreign vessels.
Wahyu confirmed the story. “I was the one who introduced him to Susi,” he said at the Sentul International Convention Center, Bogor, West Java, Thursday, September 26, 2024.
At that time, Wahyu said, Trenggono was invited to dive into the fisheries business by PT Dua Putra Utama Makmur based in Pati, Central Java. However, Trenggono chose to withdraw because the costs were too high and the processing of vessel permits took a long time.
Shortly after being appointed by President Jokowi as maritime affairs minister, Trenggono seemed determined to carry out a number of programs, such as expanding marine conservation areas and measured fishing by reviving a number of ports that were previously closed by Susi. Among them are Benjina Port, Tual Port, Wanam Port, Merauke Port, Ambon Port, and Avona Port. “These five points will become central industries starting from fishing, processing and marketing,” Trenggono said during his visit to Tual Port on Monday, June 1, 2024.
During the visit, it was widely said that Indra, Trenggono’s son, wanted to acquire Benjina Port from PT Industri Perikanan Arafura (IPA). Several fisheries entrepreneurs said that Indra had asked for help from the Ministry’s Director of Licensing and Fisheries, Ukon Ahmad Furqon, to arrange a gathering of fisheries business owners who operate in the Arafura Sea. The meeting was then held at a hotel in Central Jakarta and the entrepreneurs were asked to anchor their vessels and land their catch at Benjina Port. The catch would then be managed by Indra’s company.
Ukon also helped lobby entrepreneurs to cooperate with PT IPA and PT SIS in running the PIT program. The first meeting took place in Jakarta, while the follow-up meeting took place at the Tentrem Hotel in Yogyakarta. The lobbying resulted in a joint agreement that would be followed up with a deal on the selling price of the fish.
When contacted via telephone call, WhatsApp, and letters, Ukon did not answer the questions that had been asked. Indra also showed the same reticence. When approached at the Jedar Perch fish lunch held at the Mina Bahari III Building, on Thursday, October 3, 2024, Indra once again referred questions to his father’s staffer Wahyu Muryadi.
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Efforts to revive Benjina Port were also discussed in the Vice President’s office. In a meeting attended by officials from the Vice President’s office, including the Vice President’s Special Staff for Communication and Information, Masduki Baidlowi, the opportunity for new investors to enter the port was also discussed along with the issue of fuel efficiency.
Masduki spoke about the meeting via telephone on Monday, October 7, 2024. However, he refused to go on the record.
According to Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry documents, Benjina is projected to become one of the export ports in Fisheries Management Area 718 which includes the Aru Sea, Arafura Sea, and the Eastern Timor Sea. In this fisheries area, the Ministry estimates the potential value of Benjina’s fisheries industry to reach more than IDR 6.9 trillion per year.
Wahyu Muryadi claimed that Trenggono was not interested in acquiring the management of Benjina Port from PT IPA. “Frankly this is the first time I’ve heard of it. I don’t know. The minister is not interested. As far as I know, [Indra] has no involvement in taking care of Benjina. It’s expensive. His business is betta fish. It’s a small [business], you know,” he said on Friday, September 27, 2024. Contacted separately, PT IPA Director Agus Kurniawan also denied any discussion of selling the company as the manager of Benjina Port. “Currently, we are only discussing in-depth cooperation with the Mitra Nelayan Samudera Pati Cooperative. So until now, there has been no agreement or contract with any other party,” he replied in writing on Sunday, September 22, 2024.
This article is part of a series investigating crimes in the fisheries industry in Eastern Indonesia, a collaboration between Jaring.id and Tempo, supported by the Pulitzer Center. You can read other articles in this series below:
