Damaged Coral Reefs in Alor Island

On December 12^th, the oil tanker Ocean Princess, owned by PT Ocean Tanker crashed and was sinking near the coast of Aemoli village on Alor Island. The ship was reportedly carrying diesel at that time and was sailing from Dili to Singapore when it crashed onto the reefs, damaging a vast area of the coral within the Pantar Strait Marine Park.

The ship was detained and banned to leave the area, but was later released by the East Nusa Tenggara authorities after officials agreed on the compensation proposed by PT Ocean Tanker for the damaged it has caused to the ocean’s coral reefs.

As explained by Saleh Goro, the Chief of the East Nusa Tenggara Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Agency’s valuation team, the authorities had received a statement and Letter of Undertaking (LoU) as the guarantee upon the company’s commitment in compensating the damaged reefs and marine life in the sanctuary area. After the document had been received, the team went to the Kalabahi Port Authority Office (KSOP) with the sailing permit, which will grant the tanker to leave the waters.

From the findings collected by the valuation team, 28 areas within the reefs are damaged and destroyed. The diameter of the damaged coral reefs is estimated to be around 10 and 130 cm. The damage is a huge a loss since the reefs take time to grow at 1 to 2 cm every year.

However, according to Saleh, the financial loses of the damaged area is yet to be calculated, “We are yet to assess the financial losses because we have to attend a meeting with the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry in Jakarta.”