T

he government will not stay quiet over damage to pristine coral reefs in Raja Ampat, West Papua, and will take firm action against the British-flagged Caledonian Sky cruise ship that recently rammed into the reefs in the blossoming tourist destination.

A team under the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister, comprising Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and Environment and Forestry Ministry representatives, has been set up to probe the incident and decide on next steps.

The government intends to conduct further investigations into the damage caused by the ship that ran aground on a shoal in Raja Ampat, considered to have the richest underwater biodiversity and to be one of the best diving sites in the world.

There were three main focuses of settling the issue, Coordinating Maritime Affairs Ministry spokesman Ridwan Djamaluddin said on Wednesday.

“First, we will focus on the compensation. Second, we will file a lawsuit on the [alleged] indisciplined acts of the ship’s crew, in this case the helmsman, which caused damage to the reef. The last one is that we will evaluate regulations on cruise ships that enter conservation areas,” he said.

The ship was en route to Bitung in North Sulawesi when it ran aground, ramming into coral, earlier this month.

To collect data on the affected coral, the team will involve experts from several universities who will fly to Raja Ampat on Friday to verify the exact area damaged by the 4,290-ton ship.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Wednesday that the owner of the cruise ship must pay compensation for the damage.

“A cruise ship must have insurance, so they must pay,” he said as reported by kompas.com.

Preliminary research conducted by Conservation International Indonesia (CII), Papua State University and the Regional Technical Implementing Unit (UPTD) said the damaged area totaled 13,532.6 square meters and was estimated to have caused losses of US$18.6 million.

Separately, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry’s director general for territorial sea management, Brahmantya Satyamurti, said the ministry had found that several laws may have beenviolated in the incident, including the 2009 Environment Management and Protection Law, 2004 Fisheries Law and a 2001 ministerial decree on criteria on damaged coral reefs.

The incident could be categorized as a criminal act because the helmsman ignored the tides in the area, he said.

The ship ran up to the reef when the water was 5 meters deep. The coral is located in the food security and tourism zone of Raja Ampat Water Conservation Area, Brahmantya added.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said he would summon the British ambassador on Thursday regarding the matter.

Meanwhile, Siswanto Rusdi, a maritime expert from the National Maritime Institute think tank, said the government must update its maritime maps in relation to the incident.

“There are no signs that those parts of the water cannot be entered at a certain depth. There are supposed to be marks there, and those marks should also be on the map that the ship’s captain was equipped with,” Siswanto told The Jakarta Post.

Noble Caledonia, the travel company that operates the cruise ship, told the Post that it had established a fund to help local people and contribute to the reef’s rehabilitation. The statement added that the company was working with the government and local experts to reach “a fair and realistic settlement.” (rdi/hol)