By Taufik Rachmat Nugraha*
According to the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative, between 2018 and January 2021, a large number of Chinese vessels “deactivated” their AIS transponders – the automatic identification systems used to track ships at sea – and engaged in illegal marine scientific research while cruising inside Indonesian waters. Chinese ships even released unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), with some of these drones apparently malfunctioning and later discovered by locals while fishing.
