Jakarta, April 24 -- Indonesia has no plans to impose taxes on vessels transiting the Malacca Strait, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said, dismissing reports he had proposed levies on one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

The clarification follows speculation that Jakarta was considering charging ships passing through the strategic waterway, a key route for global trade linking the Indian Ocean and South China Sea.

"That was not in a serious context. We have never planned to collect such a tax," Purbaya told reporters in Jakarta on Friday.

He said Indonesia remains committed to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which guarantees freedom of navigation in international waters, including exclusive ec...