Waves reaching about 5 meters high had 25 yachts taking part in the Sail Banda international maritime event trail behind 21 others, which had reached Banda Neira, located around 132 kilometers southeast of Maluku capital of Ambon.
The yachts, flagged off at Darwin’s Cullen Bay in Australia on Saturday to mark the start of the event, was earlier scheduled to reach Banda Neira, a group of islands renowned for its splendid underwater garden, in Central Maluku regency on Tuesday.
“Until Wednesday noon, 21 yachts had anchored.
“The rest are still on the way,” the Sail Banda 2010 organizing committee secretary, Ansori Jawawi, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
“They have been slowed down by the big waves reaching 5 meters high in Banda Sea,” he added.
Despite the big waves, he said the participants would not face problems since the committee was backed by the Navy, the Search and Rescue team and others tightly guarding the participating yachts.
“So far, there’s been no problem,” he said.
Ansori said the first yacht to reach Banda was the Convergence.
The vessel reached Banda at 5 p.m. on Monday.
It took the ship’s six-member crew, captained by Randy Repass, 54 hours to reach Banda from Darwin.
Convergence was one of 109 ships taking part in the maritime event, with participants coming from 19 countries.
Out of the 109 ships, 46 set sail to Banda, 62 to Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara and another through Bangka-Belitung.
Jawawi said that within the next three months, the participating ships would stopover in 18 regencies in the country’s eight provinces — Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, Bali, Central Java, Southeast Sulawesi, South Kalimantan and Bangka-Belitung.
After Banda, the yachts will set sail to Ambon on July 31 where the participants are scheduled to take part in a series of activities including visiting tourist sites and participating in cultural festivals.
“The activities in Ambon are scheduled to run until Aug. 5 and then the participants will set sail to Wakatobi,” Jawawi said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to host a reception to entertain the participants in Ambon from Aug. 3-4.
After Ambon, the yachts are set to continue their trip to Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi.
Separately, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad said the Sail Banda was the right moment to make Banda known once again.
“The government will try to make it happen.
“To make Banda known by the world again,” he said.
Banda islands are made up of three larger islands and seven smaller ones perched on the rim of the country`s deepest sea, the Banda Sea.
International divers estimated that the underwater garden in Banda Neira has approximately 400 flora and fauna species of wide diversity.
Mercy visit: The US Navy's USNS Mercy hospital ship docks in the Gulf of Jakarta on Wednesday. The ship will take part in the Sail Banda 2010, which is scheduled to run from late July to August.Antara/Fanny Octavianus
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