There is potential for Maersk Line intra-Asia unit MCC Transport to make a foray into the Indonesian cabotage market but there are also many challenges and many other opportunities in the market that the company is not really focussing on it at the moment, its ceo Tim Wickmann told Seatrade Maritime News.

One of the barriers is that there are already five or six fairly large and established local players that are engaged in the cabotage trade who would be tough to compete against. Wickmann however suggested that MCC would be open to going into cooperation with them to bring international experience to the table.

However, this is where the second challenge of Indonesia's requirement that any joint venture shipping firm to take part in the trade will have the foreign party as a minority partner arises.

Wickmann suggested that it could be helpful if the Indonesian government at least explored the possibility of making an exception for the shipping industry, perhaps in the same way that they did with the offshore vessel sector.

"I'm already in the world's biggest market and we have a lot on our plate so it has to be a good opportunity and the political environment has to be supporting it," he concluded.

Source: seatrade-maritime.com