Two weeks ago, a British cruise ship accidentally rammed into one of Indonesia’s most beautiful coral reef, causing severe damage. Locals were very unhappy as their beloved reef is important for attracting diving tourists.
A local said to media: “I was born here, I was in tears when i saw this damage. The damage is huge and acute. it could take 10 to 100 years to repair it.” This man should know, because he owns a dive center on a remote and idyllic island chain in the West of Indonesia’s Papua province. He continues telling: “Some people work as fishermen or farmers, but mostly we work in the tourism sector”.
Tens of thousands of people have been to visit the underwater beauty of the area in recent years. But on 4 March, the 4,290-tonne ship, named Caledonian Sky, was just finishing a tourism bird-watching trip when it veered off course. It ran aground the reef during low tide, smashing through the age-old corals that take so long to grow.
An early evaluation last week said the accident had damaged about 1,600 sq m of coral in one of the world’s most beautiful reefs (see on the map above where all the world’s reefs are located). Videos recorded by visiting divers show that the reefs were damaged by the hull of the ship, leaving large scratches.
Noble Caledonia is the name of the company who owns the ship that destroyed the corals. They call it an unfortunate incident, and they also say that they are “firmly committed to protection of the environment” and that they will be helpful to an investigation into how this could have happened.