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usiness tycoon Tommy Winata came to the rescue for the Indonesian SEA Games Organizing Committee (INASOC) by welcoming them on board his two ships on Tuesday.

Tommy, the owner of Artha Graha business group, which covers finance, property, agriculture and resources, agreed to lend two ships to serve as the committee’s headquarters.

The two ships, with capacities of 354 rooms and 60 rooms respectively, will join vessels from the Indonesian Navy and the state shipping company PT Pelni at the Boom Baru Port, the nearest port to the Jakabaring Sports Complex in Palembang, South Sumatra.

The Palembang organizers have turned to the ships for additional accommodation space as they have run out of hotel rooms for the estimated 15,000 guests expected to attend the games.

Dormitories in the athletes’ village will host only 2,000 guests while the city’s hotels are able to host 4,500 guests.

As part of the Artha Graha Peduli corporate social responsibility program, the ships have been utilized as part of a number of humanitarian activities in Aceh and have also participated in the international sailing tournament, Sail Banda.

“These ships have become a unique answer amid our despair in finding enough rooms to accommodate all the SEA Games’ participants. From now on, we won’t have to worry anymore where to sleep,” said INASOC chairwoman Rita Subowo on Tuesday.

“A similar accommodation solution was also used during the Athens Olympic Games [in 2004],” said Rita.

The two ships lent by Artha Graha Group will serve as the INASOC headquarters, while all the hotels around Palembang will be for the participating countries’ technical delegates and athletes, added Rita. “Previously, we were short by 280 rooms, but now that problem has been settled,” she said.

Rita highlighted that this year’s 26th SEA Games would become the largest since the Games were first held in Thailand in 1959. This year, the Games will welcome 11 participating countries and a total of 5,546 athletes, including 3,766 athletes that are scheduled to compete in Jakarta.

Rita cited that the organizers were expecting that 2,500 print and broadcast journalists and 31 television stations would cover the Games.

The ships’ first task is to carry the torch of the Games from Jakarta to Palembang. The torch is scheduled to reach Jakarta on Friday, after touring around Balikpapan and Samarinda, East Kalimantan. The ships sail with the torch to Palembang on Saturday, where the Games’ opening ceremony will take place on Nov. 11.