A crowd surrounded the Vega, a wooden vessel berthed at Pantai Mutiara beach in Pluit, North Jakarta on Sunday evening, to listen as her owners — Shane Granger and Meggie Mecoun — narrated the ship’s 120-year history.

Built in 1892 in Norway by Ola H. Nerhus, the vessel was reconstructed and registered in Sweden in 1905. She sailed across the world under a Swedish flag hauling heavy cargoes.

 In 1991, Granger and Mecoun left their jobs in an advertising agency in Europe, bought the Vega and started sailing the vessel for another purpose. “It’s not exciting for both of us if we just sail around with Vega,” captain Granger said. “So we bring medical and school supplies for people living on isolated islands.”

Granger said that Vega was one of the first boats to help distribute assistance to remote islands when the tsunami hit Aceh in 2004. Vega always sails from April through September to remote islands in the Banda Sea in East Indonesia.

He said that despite her small size — about 25 meters — the vessel could still carry up to 15 tons.

“Currently, we have around 10 tons aboard. But if you look below — inside Vega’s hull — you will barely see anything,” Granger said.

He said that Vega is going to berth at the Jetski Club wharf for about two weeks, waiting for medical and educational supplies from its hundreds of faithful donors.

Granger said that when he returned from his voyage in September, he would have a list of what people needed.

“We do not tell people what they need. We ask them what they need,” the captain said, explaining that people in the remote islands to which Vega usually sails would give him a list of needed assistance.

Then, Granger will distribute the list to his donors, private companies and individuals from various countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

This year, Granger will be calling on seven more islands. “We once visited three islands that were marked as uninhabited. But when we got there, we discovered several communities,” he said, explaining that he checks isolated islands looking for communities living on them.

This year, an Indonesian doctor, Ruth Indira, will join the Vega’s crew. She will train traditional midwives on proper delivery of babies.

Ruth said that they were still waiting for maternity equipment. “It would be great if our government also helped us,” she said. (riz)

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