The procession commemorating the 77th Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia was held on Ocean FarmITS, located on the southern coast of Indonesia.

ITS Campus, ITS News – Inflaming the spirit of innovation as the leading maritime campus in Indonesia, the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) has launched an offshore technology innovation. Through Ocean FarmITS (OFITS), a technology in the form of offshore floating net cages (KJA) was officially installed to coincide with the 77th Independence Day (HUT) of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) in the waters of Sendang Biru, Malang Regency, Wednesday ( 17/8) morning.

The inauguration took place solemnly, beginning with raising the red and white flag and then singing the national anthem Indonesia Raya over the sea level on the southern coast of Indonesia. This slightly different ceremony, in general, is also intended to welcome the 62nd Anniversary of ITS, adapted to the theme of Innovation for Indonesia.

The red and white flag raising ceremony commemorates the 77th Anniversary of Indonesian Independence on Ocean FarmITS, located in the waters of Sendang Biru, Malang.

Regarding this offshore technology, the Head of the OFITS Research Team, Dr. Yeyes Mulyadi ST MSc said, the launch of OFITS itself has been carried out since 2020 in the form of a soft launching of design and fabrication at the Coastal Fishery Port (PPP) Pondokdadap, Malang owned by the Java Province Marine and Fisheries Service. East. Then, the OFITS Team finalized by adding residential buildings, installing solar panels, and managing water systems.

Yeyes explained innovations related to offshore marine cages for fishermen were carried out because, so far, they could only catch fish for six months a year. These problems are experienced by many traditional fishermen who have small boats, coupled with bad weather and uncertain fishing seasons. “After all the finalization stages are complete, today we will launch the marine cage into the sea,” said the 49-year-old man.

Following the ITS tagline, namely Advancing Humanity, Yeyes said that this innovation will not only function as a medium for fish cultivation and help local fishermen but will also be intended for marine tourism activities. He said that this idea was agreed upon because he saw that the KJA already had a bottom building with nets as deep as seven meters for fish cultivation and an upper building in the form of a floating hotel for tourism.

View of ITS Ocean Farm (OFITS) with KJA that has been released in the waters of Sendang Biru, Malang Regency

Regarding the planned marine tourism, the Head of the Sub-directorate of Student Development, ITS Directorate of Student Affairs (Ditmawa), explained that the Ocean FarmITS Team would provide a scenario in the form of a tour package. In this case, visitors can enjoy the atmosphere of the south coast based on their preferences with seven identified tour packages.

The seven tour packages include swimming, enjoying coffee, lunch, lodging at OFITS, fishing boat rides, camping in the Virgin Beach environment, and introducing offshore technology and fish farming in marine cages. “We are trying to offer the seven short tour packages,” he said.

After the launch, which coincided with the Anniversary of Indonesian Independence, Yeyes hoped that the collaboration between the Departments of Marine Engineering, Biology, Interior Design, Visual Communication Design (DKV), and System and Industrial Engineering was predicted to be able to become one of ITS’ superior works in the maritime field. . Yeyes and the team believe that this project will have a positive impact, not only for ITS but also for the surrounding community.

Team members together with technicians and the local community after launching floating net cages (KJA) as part of Ocean FarmITS

With the concept of cultivation and tourism highlighted, it is targeted to involve the people around Sidoarsi, Malang. Seeing the great potential of the location but still being remote, the Head of the Marine Structure Dynamics Laboratory of the ITS Marine Engineering Department hopes that the project can attract local and foreign tourists.

Not only that, through the installation of Ocean FarmITS into the waters, this Marine Engineering Department lecturer revealed that this innovation was a strategic step taken by ITS to introduce and show the advantages of ITS’ new study program, namely Offshore Engineering. “I am sure that in the future, we will have the confidence to develop these things,” said Yeyes optimistically. (ITS Public Relation/far)

Reporter: Fauzan Fakhrizal Azmi