Sulawesi Canal

The building of the canal was pressed by the Head of the Central Sulawesi Marine and Fisheries Service, Dr. Hasanuddin Atjo, in the context of the implementation of the Masterplan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI) under the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

After his inauguration as Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Fadel Muhammad had conveyed this idea to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and even Bappenas and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries have provided support to develop a strategic plan for the development of this canal which is integrated with the management of Tomini Bay.

[8] On 5 August 2019, Member of Commission VII of the People's Representative Council from the NasDem faction, Ahmad Ali, reiterated the idea of the canal.

This follows the discourse on the proposal of moving the capital city of Indonesia to island of Kalimantan as initiated by President Joko Widodo.

[1][10] During this, He analyzed that the route will summarise logistical journeys from the east, especially the transport of Morowali steel manufacturing materials, Banda Sea Fisheries, Cloves, crops from the Timor and Maluku Islands, will automatically sail through this route to the South China Sea.

The canal will potentially damage the world's ocean current system and the ecology of the Gulf of Tomini and the Sulawesi Sea.