JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia says nearly 204,000 square feet of coral reef was damaged by a foreign cruise ship that ran aground in the pristine waters of Raja Ampat in West Papua province earlier this month.
The extent of the damage, announced by the deputy maritime affairs minister this week after a survey of the affected strait, was far worse than initially thought. Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday said the government will be “very firm” in demanding compensation.
Arif Havas Oegroseno, the deputy minister at the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs, said the joint assessment by a national survey team and the tour company’s insurers found nearly 143,160 square feet had damage that was fatal to the coral.
He said another 60,280 square feet received lesser damage from shock waves of sand and broken coral sent out by the ship’s maneuvers and has a 50 percent chance of dying.
The 4,200-ton cruise ship M.V. Caledonian Sky, which was chartered by British tour company Noble Caledonia, ran aground in the Dampier Strait on March 4.
Indonesia’s senior minister for maritime affairs, Luhut Pandjaitan, last week summoned British Ambassador Moazzam Malik to discuss the damage.
The ministry has described the reefs as being irreparably damaged.
London-based Noble Caledonia has acknowledged responsibility for the damage and said it is working toward “a fair and realistic settlement.”
Officials from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry are working on an estimate of economic losses that will be used in the settlement negotiations.