Posted on 06/24/2016 2:21:21 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Indonesia is concerned that piracy in the Sulu Sea area, a major sea traffic corridor for the world's top thermal coal exporter, could reach levels previously seen in Somalia.
"The moratorium on coal exports to the Philippines will be extended until there is a guarantee for security from the Philippines government," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told reporters.
Indonesia supplies 70 percent of the Philippines' coal import needs, which Indonesian data shows stood at about 15 million tonnes, worth around $800 million, last year.
Analysts say $40 billion worth of cargo passes through the Sulu Sea area a year, including supertankers from the Indian Ocean that cannot use the crowded Malacca Strait.
Marsudi said earlier the seven Indonesians were kidnapped by two different armed groups in attacks on a tugboat towing a coal-carrying barge and that the government would "try all options to free the hostages".
Fourteen Indonesians were abducted in two separate assaults on tugboats in March and April but were freed in May. In April, the Indonesian navy instructed all commercial vessels to avoid piracy-prone waters near the southern Philippines.
Filipino captive Marites Flor, abducted from an upscale resort in September along with Canadian Robert Hall, was freed at dawn on Friday on Jolo, an army spokesman said. Hall was beheaded on June 13.
In Davao City, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte said they were "able to negotiate" for the release of two captives, a Norwegian man and Filipino woman.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Would that be the low sulfur anthracite coal, the only source after Clinton placed our supply in Utah off limits.
The payback for enormous 'contributions' by Indonesian businessmen?
Excellent reminder!
Lippo Group, Riady, Utah land grab
The Southern Philippines is the muslim part that needs cleaning out.
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