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One out of every four ships operating in Indonesian waters does not have a safety certificate, the chief of the Indonesian Classification Bureau said on Monday.

Muchtar Ali, chairman of the bureau, also known as the BKI, said that out of 12,000 ships registered in Indonesia, only about 9,000 had been certified as meeting the minimum safety requirements.

“This can lead to accidents due to a lack of safety monitoring,” he said.

Muchtar said all ships of more than 100 gross tons were required to undergo a BKI certification process, which involves checks on the availability of emergency equipment, such as fire extinguishers, and a review of the crew’s safety management skills and the condition of the ship’s machinery and electrical systems.

To avoid future maritime accidents, he said, BKI had asked the government to grant the bureau increased authority to audit ships’ safety capabilities.

BKI is a state agency whose primary task is to audit and review the safety of all ships registered in Indonesia.

According to the bureau’s records as of December 2009, there were about 5,400 ships with valid BKI safety certificates, while the certificates of another 4,000 vessels had expired. A BKI certificate is valid for five years.

Johnson Sutjipto, chairman of the Indonesian National Shipowners Association, said itwas waiting for a regulation from the government requiring ships to go through the BKI certification process before mandating its members do so.

Sunaryo, director general of sea transportation at the Ministry of Transportation, said the 2007 law on sea voyages did not require a ship to have a BKI certification to set sail.

He said ships could also be cleared to sail after passing a safety check carried out by port officials, who then would issue a letter allowing the ship to sail.

Johnson added that not having a BKI certificate did not automatically mean a ship would be involved in an accident.

“Safety can be improved by learning from previous accidents, or from reports from the National Transportation Safety Committee [KNKT],” he said.

Maritime accidents are frequent in Indonesia, a country of more than 17,000 islands. Warnings of high waves and dangerous sea conditions are often ignored by seamen, as is the comfort and safety of passengers.