By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-09-18 09:27:04 | Updated at 2026-09-19 12:28:24
1 day ago
JAKARTA – Indonesia’s first aircraft carrier, the Italian Navy’s former carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi, arrived in Jakarta on Sept 18 after a three-week voyage from Italy, marking a significant expansion of the country’s naval capabilities.
The ship’s arrival at Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta was greeted by Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin; Indonesia’s Armed Forces Commander, General Agus Subiyanto; Navy Chief of Staff, Admiral Muhammad Ali; Army Chief of Staff, General Maruli Simanjuntak; and Air Force Chief of Staff, Marshal Mohamad Tonny Harjono.
“Alhamdulillah, the ship has arrived safely, and the journey went smoothly without any issues whatsoever. The ship remains in quite good condition,” Ali told reporters at the port after inspecting the vessel’s interior. “Hopefully, it will remain in service with the Indonesian Navy for another 15 to 20 years.”
The Garibaldi, which was commissioned in 1985 and in service in the Italian Navy until 2024, was transferred to Indonesia by the Italian government as a grant valued at more than €54 million (S$79 million).
Ali said the ship is set to be renamed KRI Sriwijaya, after the maritime empire that spanned much of Sumatra, Java and the Malay Peninsula during its peak in the 9th century. He added that the ship would officially become an Indonesian Navy ship in a ceremony scheduled for Sept 24.
“(On Sept 24,) there will be a re-flagging from the Italian flag to the Indonesian flag,” Ali said.
The Garibaldi arrived in Indonesian waters near the Bangka Belitung islands on Sept 17, after setting out on Aug 24 from Taranto, Italy, with stops in Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. Upon entering Indonesian waters, the ship was greeted by two Indonesian Navy frigates, KRI Brawijaya-320 and KRI Prabu Siliwangi-321, which escorted the Garibaldi to Jakarta.
The vessel, which was decommissioned by the Italian Navy in 2024, measures approximately 180m in length and 33m in width. It is powered by four gas turbines that collectively generate around 81,000 horsepower and is capable of reaching a maximum speed of 30 knots. At a cruising speed of approximately 20 knots, the ship has a range of up to 7,000 nautical miles.
The Indonesian Defence Ministry has set aside 7.2 trillion rupiah (S$518 million) to retrofit and modernise the carrier, saying that the ship will largely be used for “military operations other than war”, namely disaster relief and humanitarian missions.
Earlier in September, at a disaster response coordination meeting with the relevant ministries and government agencies, President Prabowo Subianto said the Garibaldi’s arrival would be a “big help” to Indonesia’s response to the forest fires that have ravaged much of Kalimantan and southern Sumatra over the past two months.
“Alhamdulillah, an aircraft carrier from Italy will soon join our navy’s fleet. We will refurbish and convert it into a carrier for helicopters and drones,” he said at the meeting on Sept 7, adding that the ship has the capacity to accommodate around 10 medium-sized helicopters, each capable of carrying between four and five tonnes of water.
Indonesian Navy spokesperson Rear Admiral Tunggul, who goes by only one name, has confirmed the ship’s fire-fighting capabilities.
“When handling forest and land fires, (the ship) can carry more than 10 helicopters. The plan is for this vessel to not only carry navy helicopters, but also those from the army and air force, acting as a mobile base platform operating at sea,” Tunggul said in a statement on Sept 17.
