Jakarta. Indonesia wants its ships to navigate the Strait of Hormuz freely, as Jakarta banks on the fragile ceasefire for safe passage.

Indonesia has had two of its tankers stuck in the Persian Gulf, and the only way out is via the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has been blocking the Hormuz as part of its war against the US and Israel. As a US-Iran ceasefire kicks in, Indonesia continues to nudge Iran into letting its vessels pass through the critical shipping route.

About two weeks ago, Indonesia admitted to having earned a “positive response” from Iran on letting its ships pass. Vahd Nabyl A Mulachela — a spokesperson to the Foreign Ministry — said Tuesday that there was “no timeline set” for passage as Jakarta continues to work on the technical matters. 

“This includes details related to insurance and the crews’ preparedness. But in principle, we demand the respect of the freedom of navigation as enshrined in international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea [Unclos],” Nabyl told the press.

“The strait reopening will have huge positive [economic] effects not just on Indonesia, but also on the region and the world. … But again, this is not entirely political. There are technical matters that we must discuss with Pertamina and the relevant parties on the ground.”

Nabyl also said that the government at present had “no specific response or information” when asked about Iran’s proposal on collecting tolls in the Strait of Hormuz.

Later that day, Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia told the press that Jakarta was still in “intense talks” to notch the Hormuz green light. “Hopefully, we can wrap things up quickly now that we have a ceasefire in the Middle East,” Bahlil said.

The Indonesian vessels seeking escape belong to the state energy giant Pertamina. The first vessel — VLCC Pertamina Pride — was at sea to bring light crude oil for Indonesia. The Gamsunoro ship was serving a third-party cargo. Pertamina has not responded to the Jakarta Globe’s request for comments on the latest updates. 

There are currently 892 Indonesian crew members across the Middle East, according to government estimates. However, the government does not have the estimates on how many Indonesian crewmen were stuck in the Strait of Hormuz.

The renewed Israeli strikes on Lebanon — which have killed at least 254 people — raised doubts over the last-minute ceasefire. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif — whose government has brokered the ceasefire — had warned that the truce included Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denied that Lebanon was part of the arrangement. 

Lebanon found itself dragged into the Iran war after the Tehran-backed armed group Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel. Hezbollah’s involvement was to avenge Israel's murder of Iran’s former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

The Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked following the truce, according to Bloomberg. The shutdown of the narrow waterway that carries a quarter of the global seaborne oil trade has caused crude prices to break through the $100-a-barrel. Global crude benchmark Brent hit $97 per barrel on Thursday.

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