German warships open for public tour

JAKARTA (JP): Four German navy ships will dock at Tanjung Priok port tomorrow morning for a four-day visit in which the public is invited to come aboard and tour the ships.

The four ships are the frigate type F 123 Bayern, frigate type F 122 Bremen and two auxiliary supply ships Glucksburg and Rohn.

They are here as part of a round the world tour which began in their home port of Wilhelmshafen on July 24.

The trip has already taken the four ships to Israel, Egypt, India, Malaysia, China, Japan, the Philippines and Brunei. They are scheduled to return to Germany on Dec. 5.

The public is invited to visit the ships Friday and Saturday between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

German Ambassador to Indonesia Heinrich Seeman said the purpose of the visit was to enhance friendship and demonstrate the ship's high technology.

"Those are the main two reasons of the visit," he said adding that commercial motives were not part of the visit.

"They will not be here to sell the ships," he said.

The visit, he added, will enhance cooperation with the navies in the region.

The Indonesian Navy is equipped with mostly German warships. In 1994, the government bought 39 ships from the previous arsenal of the former East Germany. (10)