[ad_1]
PUTRAJAYA: The quality of submarine data cable maintenance will be maintained even when Malaysian cable vessels are given priority over foreign ones following the revocation of the cabotage exemption, says the Malaysian Shipowners Association (Masa).
At a press conference here on Wednesday (December 2), Masa President Datuk Abdul Hak Md Amin said the revocation did not mean that foreign-flagged vessels were prohibited from entering Malaysian waters for maintenance work.
“In fact, there was a request on Tuesday (December 1) and after checking, our members confirmed that we have no boats available.
“After that, a foreign ship will come in and I think the electronic national shipping license (eDSL) will be issued in a few days,” he said.
Although Malaysian ships are given priority, Abdul Hak said there would still be competition in terms of prices, as foreign ships could still offer their services.
“The public must understand that Masa does not give any approval.
“When there is a request, Masa will check if our members have ships available and, if they don’t, foreign ships can enter.
“If there is a Malaysian ship available, we will pass on the information and the parties involved will negotiate the price,” he told the press conference, which was also attended by Masa’s secretary general, Shaharuzzaman Baharum, and former member James Ong.
The cabotage exemption previously allowed foreign vessels to carry out undersea communication cable repair work without having to apply for the exemption of domestic shipping licenses.
The exemption was granted by former Transport Minister Anthony Loke following requests from telecommunications companies such as TIME dotCom Bhd and Telekom Malaysia Bhd.
The matter had the support of the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia in order to speed up the cable maintenance work.
However, the exemption was subsequently revoked by Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong effective November 15 to boost the capacity and capacity of the national shipping industry.
The exemption was also aimed at increasing technical expertise through human resource development among locals, as local ships can carry out undersea cable repair work.
Abdul Hak noted that the cabotage exemption had created a discriminatory environment in which Malaysian companies were overlooked when it came to carrying out such repairs in their own country.
“A study conducted by Masa on cable boats around the world showed that Malaysian companies own four certified cable boats that the industry currently uses for installation and maintenance.
“Therefore, it is unjustifiable to say that Malaysian companies are not capable of undersea cable repairs,” he said, adding that prior to November 15, all cable repair work in Malaysian waters was carried out by one company. registered in Singapore.
“This had a counterproductive effect by stimulating competition.
“We want to foster a fair competition system that involves multiple supply and maintenance service providers working with local Malaysian solutions to create an ecosystem that encourages higher ship tonnages, employment, downstream industries and technology investments for the shipping industry. telecommunications, “he said. additional.
Concerning higher repair costs following the revocation of the cabotage exemption, Abdul Hak expressed confidence in the ministry’s commitment to reduce the time required to process the request for ships to perform submarine cable maintenance through the eDSL system.
“Repair costs will be more competitive as prices are driven by competition between maintenance zones.
“We believe the revocation will stimulate competition,” he said, adding that the argument for possibly slower Internet speeds and services was unfounded.
He pointed to one case where a foreign vessel took 48 days to complete repairs during the previous cabotage exemption, but Malaysia did not experience any internet service disruption.
“There are a total of 19 submarine cables with two new cables in operation, so when one cable is affected, the traffic is diverted,” he added.
Masa, Abdul Hak said, supported the government’s commitment to shorten the time for the permit approval process for vessels to perform cable repairs, and urged its members to actively stay up-to-date with the latest knowledge to capitalize on opportunities in this technology driven industry.
[ad_2]
