Shipping industry in Indonesia, a vast archipelago country, has expanded rapidly in recent years as the number of ship serving in the sector increases, a minister said here on Thursday.

Indonesian Transport Ministry EE Mangindaan said that one of the factors contributing to the expansion was the implementation of cabotage principle in March 2005, which stipulates only ships with Indonesian flags and Indonesian crews may sail in the country.

The minister said that the number of ships with Indonesian flag and crew sailing in the country grew by 92.3 percent to 11,620 units in October this year from that of in 2005, when the principle was first implemented.

"This means that Indonesian ships control over 98 percent of domestic marine transportation," he said at transport ministry office.

Taking a ship is a favorite transport means in the country homed by over 17,500 islands.

Besides, the government has also given priority to building new ports and boosting the capacity of existing sea ports to serve surging flow of goods within the free trade areas. Endi

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