TEMPO.CO, Kupang - As many as 130 nations have registered to participate in Sail Komodo 2013. The peak of the event will be held at Labuan Bajo, Manggarai district, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), on September 14, 2013.
Abraham Klakik, chief of the NTT Culture and Tourism Department, hopes that with the 19 days leftover before the beginning of the event, more nations will register as participants. He says participants of Sail Komodo will begin sailing from Darwin, North Australia, towards Kupang, NTT, on July 27, and are estimated to arrive in Kupang on July 29.
"The event will officially start with the sailors departing Kupang on August 4, 2013," he says.
Sail Komodo will kick off with Vice President Boediono officially bidding farewell to the sailors who will visit a number of tourist destinations in NTT. Participants will sail in from Kupang in two groups. The first group will go through the northern route, which is Kupang-Wini-Atapupu- Kalabahi-Lewoleba-Larantuka- Maumere-Riung and finally Labuan Bajo. The second group will go through the southern route passing through Kupang- Ba'a-Sabu-Daratan Sumba and end in Labuan Bajo.
Abraham says these sailors are hoped to arrive at the finish line at Labuan Bajo by September 9 because the peak of the event will be on September 14.
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