Featured Image Credit: Pemda Kabupaten Raja Ampat
By Kira Krall
The British-owned MV Caledonian Sky ran aground onto an Indonesian coral reef in early March. The resulting crash sent a shockwave throughout the reef that obliterated 13,000 square miles of coral. The 9,000,000 pound ship was charting a course for the Philippines from Papua New Guinea on a bird-watching trip.
Three Indonesian Agencies surveyed the reef post-crash and determined that the ship and its captain caused over $19 million in irreparable damage. While the company’s insurance is covering the financial cost, the Indonesian government is still pressing criminal charges on the captain to answer for the destruction.
Here’s the reef outside of the impact zone, healthy and thriving:
And here’s the reef after the ship struck it:
The captain and crew of the MV Caledonian Sky used only the ship’s GPS and did not take the tide or presence of coral reefs into account as the captain barreled through the ecologically sensitive area. The Raja Ampat Island’s economy was previously stimulated by SCUBA-diving tourists paying to experience the amazing reef first-hand. Locals are concerned that the destruction of the reef will bring that flow of tourism dollars to a dead stop.
Part of the recovery strategy for Raja Ampat’s reef is to block large vessels like cruise ships from navigating the Dampier Strait. This could help prevent further damage to the shallow-water systems that call the Strait home. Without the risky ships attempting passage across the straits, coral scientists would be able to start repairing the reef by replanting coral.
The Indonesian Coral Reef Foundation are already preparing to replant sections of the reef. The coral took hundreds of years to build itself up and will take decades for humans to repair. The Foundation and other agencies like it are prepared to put in the time, but they can only do so after the cruise line pays (literally) for the damage it has done.