Environmentalists and academics estimate that Indonesia might suffer losses of US$18.6 million from damage to coral reefs in Raja Ampat, West Papua, caused by the Caledonian Sky cruise ship earlier this month.

Conservation International Indonesia (CII), Papua State University and the Regional Technical Implementing Unit (UPTD) conducted research to analyze the damage to the coral reefs.

Ricardo Tapilatu, who headed the research, said that several endemic reefs that were unique to that part of the world were damaged.

“The types of reefs that were damaged by the ship are Genus Porites, Acropora, Poicilopora, Tubastrea, Montipora, Stylopora, Favia and Pavites. It will take decades to restore the reefs,” he said on Monday.

He added that the damaged area reached 13,532.60 square meters and was estimated to cause losses of $18.6 million.

CII spokesman, Albert Nebore, said the cruise ship allegedly entered the area without consulting local guides. He added that the ship’s crew only relied on GPS without considering the tide.

“The skipper forced the ship to enter the area, which was not open to cruise ships,” he said.

Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Ministry sent staff to identify the damaged coral reefs and to collect evidence to use later to demand compensation from the travel company Noble Caledonia, which operated the cruise.

Ministry spokesman Djati Witjaksono said, “we will discuss with experts the amount of compensation the company must pay [to Indonesia].”

The 90-meter Caledonian Sky cruise ship — which weighs 4,200 tons and carried 102 passengers — entered the Dampir Strait in the maritime conservation site in Raja Ampat on March 4. It sailed from Papua New Guinea to the Philippines.

The world-famous diving site has been proposed by the Indonesian government as a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage site.

Head of Raja Ampat Professional Divers organization, Ruben Sauyai, said the coral reefs had been badly damaged.

“The area is a popular diving spot for tourists because it has lots of beautiful coral. Now, I am afraid we cannot take tourists here because nothing is left due to the incident,” he said.

Ruben hoped the government would draft regulations on prohibiting cruise ships for entering sensitive areas, like the Dampir Strait, to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

Coral reef expert from the Indonesian Coral Reef Foundation, Safran, said if the government received the compensation, it must be used to rehabilitate the reefs.

“The reefs should be carefully observed during the first year of planting because the coral could easily die in the first year,” he said.

The British Embassy in Jakarta expressed its position on this problem. Faye Belnis from the embassy said they were aware of the report and hoped that the local authorities and the travel company could resolve the problem as soon as possible.

The British-owned company described the incident as “unfortunate” and said it was “cooperating fully with the relevant authorities”, the Guardian reported.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul said the police would wait for instruction from related parties before taking action. He added that the police could investigate the case by using the Environment Protection and Management Law.

In a statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Monday night, Noble Caledonia, the operator of Caledonian Sky, said that the company and their insurers would be working with the government and specialists to come to an agreement in relation to the damage to the reef.

“The company is firmly committed to the protection of the environment and as such deeply regrets any damaged caused to the reef,” it states. (rdi)

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