RI, German scientists begin research project

CILACAP, Central Java (JP): Thirty-eight scientists from Indonesia and Germany representing various disciplines started a joint three-month research project on marine geology Sunday.

The study of sedimentation in the Indian Ocean is being conducted aboard the German-owned Sonne research ship. Funds for the studies until Feb. 28 are said to reach US$25,000 per day, also provided by the German government.

A geophysics expert from the 14-member German team, Bernd Schreckenberger, said at the opening of the project here Sunday at the Tanjung Intan port that the project was held in cooperation between the state-run Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPPT) and the German research body BGR. Those attending the opening of the project included Harmurt Keune, Germany's counselor for science, technology and environment.

Kuene said the research aimed to assess sedimentation on the ocean floor in the Indian Ocean between Asia and Africa.

The joint research will be centered in three determined zones, the Sunda Straits, the southern waters of the Java Sea and the northeast waters of the Indian Ocean. Each zone will be studied for one month.

The head of BPPT's natural resources division, Soesilo Indrojono, said the Indonesian researchers would include those from the Bandung Institute of Technology and the Marine Geology Institute.

Keune added the project aboard the 100-meter long ship was also held in commemoration of 20 years of scientific cooperation between Indonesia and Germany.

In light of this occasion, Sonne will dock at Tanjung Priok harbor in North Jakarta where the project participants will attend the 20th anniversary of the cooperation titled Technogerma. (45)