Fishing crews say soaring diesel prices have wiped out incomes and forced boats to stay in port for months
A surge in global oil prices linked to energy supply disruptions caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israel war on Iran, has nearly doubled diesel costs for Indonesian fishermen. The spike has forced much of the country’s fishing fleet to remain docked according to a report by RT’s Indra Mapong.
The impact of the war in Iran is now being felt thousands of kilometers away in Indonesia, where soaring fuel prices have left much of the country’s fishing fleet stranded in port. Fishermen in Jakarta told RT, on Tuesday, that many larger vessels can no longer afford to operate. Boats, that would normally spend weeks at sea, now remain docked for months while crews lose their main source of income.
“Mostly it is disrupted, sir, from the income, which usually comes every three months or four months,” one fisherman told RT. Fishermen said they now need to catch at least 700 million rupiah ($40,000) worth of squid just to break even on operating costs. Crews added that even subsidized diesel for smaller boats had become scarce, while prices had nearly doubled.
Hundreds of fishermen protested in Central Java earlier this month demanding lower diesel prices, according to media reports. Governor Ahmad Luthfi warned that rising fuel costs could disrupt fish supplies and push up inflation.
In response to the fuel crisis, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto traveled to Moscow last month for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, securing a deal for up to 150 million barrels of discounted Russian oil. Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said on Monday that the first shipments could arrive within one to two weeks with contracts already signed.
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