State ships to take part in 'Arung Samudera'

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto is scheduled to visit the Jakarta Bay on Aug. 19. to inspect warships taking part in the Arung Samudera '95 -- an event which will combine yacht races with a parade of warship fleets.

The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology announced over the weekend that three of the research ships of the agency, Baruna Jaya I, II and III, will be entrants in the event being held as part of the highlights to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Indonesia's independence.

The agency said that the state-owned ships will take part in the Ship Parade and Sea Research Exhibition events to be held at the Marine Complex in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

The Sea Research Exhibition, scheduled for Aug. 19 to Aug. 21, is open free of charge to the public.

The exhibition will display, among others, marine specimens from the Sumatra west coast, fish from the Economic Exclusive Zone, gold from Bone of Sulawesi, technology for developing coastal areas as well as the potential of oil and gas capacities in the North Sea of Sulawesi.

The agency said that the Baruna Jaya research fleet began operating in the early 1990s, comprising of Baruna Jaya I for oceanography research, Baruna Jaya II for hydrography surveys and Baruna III for research of marine geology and geophysics.

The ships, each a deadweight of 1,300 tons, are equipped with modern facilities, including a side-scan sonar, a satellite navigation system as well as a deep sea camera.

The agency said the Baruna Jaya IV for fishing research activities will arrive here by the end of this year.

The ship was bought from Germany.

In a related development, Rear Admiral Bambang Poerwadi, an executive of the Arung Samudera'95 organizing committee, disclosed over the weekend that a total of 188 warships and yachts from Indonesia, as well as from several foreign countries, have confirmed their participation in the event.

The participants are scheduled to set off tomorrow on a 650 nautical mile voyage through the Java Sea from Benoa in Bali, heading for the Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta.(32/bas)