TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Arif Havas Oegroseno, deputy for maritime sovereignty at the Maritime Affairs Ministry, said that the coral reef run aground by British-flagged Caledonian Cruise ship in Raja Ampat has 50/50 chance of living.
As wide as 13,270 square meters of coral reefs in Raja Ampat sustain total damage caused by the ship, and 5,612 square meter of coral reefs have been damage by sand and coral reef debris due to the ship movement.
“The chance of living for the damaged coral reefs is 50 percent,” Arif said in a press release on Tuesday, March 21, 2017.
The survey team deployed by the government and the ship insurance company have agreed that the size of the damaged coral reefs in Raja Ampat caused by MV Caledonian Sky is 18,882 square meters.
“The agreement has been signed by both parties on a paper with duty stamp,” Arif added.
Arif explained after reaching an agreement on the size of the damaged coral reefs, both teams agreed to analyze the damage separately and scheduled another meeting to discuss the results on the first week of April 2017 in Jakarta.
Earlier, British-flagged Caledonian Sky cruise ship ran aground in Raja Ampat, Papua on March 4, 2017. Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan told journalists during his visit to Surabaya on March 20, 2017, that a team deployed by the insurance company would collect data on the damage caused by the cruise ship.
Luhut called on the local government to evaluate the incident.
“We want to implement a stricter rule, because [Raja Ampat] is our signature tourist destination. In addition, coral reefs in the area are rare in the world,” Luhut added.
MITRA TARIGAN | ARTIKA RACHMI FARMITA