Sail Bunaken To gather Sailors in Spirit of Brotherhood by Fardah

   Jakarta, June 6 (ANTARA) -  Around 8,000 sailors from all over the world are expected to participate in the  Sail Bunaken 2009 to be organized in Manado, North Sulawesi, on  August 12-20, 2009.        
    "Ship crew members from many countries will sail to Manado to visit the Bunaken marine park. Sail Bunaken will be greater than the Bunaken Festival which was held earlier," North Sulawesi Governor Sinyo Sarundajang said in Manado recently.
    Sail Bunaken is aimed at building a sense of seamen's brotherhood and enhancing international relations, Commodore Willem Rampangilei, commander of the Indonesian Navy's Main Base VIII, said.

              "The event is to give a chance to the world to see the marine beauty of North Sulawesi, to build the mariners' spirit, and to make North Sulawesi a gateway to East Asia," he said.

         Designed  to help promote Manado as a world tourist destination, Sail Bunaken will be the largest maritime event ever organized in Asia as it will involve 24 warships, 150 sail boats, and cruise ships from 26 countries.    
          "Forty-two countries have confirmed their participation. They will send their naval chiefs of staff and some deputy chiefs of staff," Commodore Willem Rampangilei
     Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Moeklas Sidiq, deputy chief of staff of the Indonesian Navy, said the planned participation of 24 warships from various countries reflected good relations among the world's navies and would constitute the largest fleet review ever held by Indonesia, as  one of the world?s largest maritime country.

          The event's programs will include an Indonesian Fleet Review, a Darwin (Australia) - Manado Yacht Rally, Bunaken Expo, Bunaken Carnival, Jetski Trans Equator Touring, a seafood festival, Bunaken Diving Competition, and International Fishing Competition.

        Up to May 26, 150 yachts have been registered for the Yacht Rally which will start from Darwin, Australia, to Bitung and Manado.

          The warship parade will be participated in by among other things USS George Washington, one of the world's largest aircraft carriers, with around 5,000 crew members on board. The US warship will be guarded by three frigates each  having 500 crew members on board.  The warships will arrive in Bitung starting August 12, 2009.

           A world record breaking  diving event in the presence of officials of the Guinness World of Records is also expected to mark Sail Bunaken 2009 which will be organized on August 15 to 18, 2009.

         "The diving record breaking event involving at least 1,500 divers, will be organized as an underwater celebration of the 64th anniversary of Indonesian independence," Commodore Willem Rampangilei, said.

            The divers would dive to  depths of between 15 and 20 meters, for at least 12 minutes as required by the Guinness Book of Records, he said.    
     "I have been informed that the wife of General Djoko Santoso, chief of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), has also registered herself for the diving race," he said.

          The participating divers are also expected to plant 1,000 pieces of artificial coral reefs made by senior divers and LIPI (Indonesian Institute of Sciences), in the Bunaken marine park waters.

          The Bunaken National Marine Park,  formally established in 1991,  is among the first of Indonesia's growing ranks  of marine parks. The park, one of the world's best of its kind,  covers a total surface area of 89,065 hectares, 97% of which is overlain by sparkling clear, warm tropical water.

          The remaining 3% of the park is terrestrial, including the five islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen. The waters of Bunaken National Marine Park are extremely deep (1566 m in Manado Bay), clear (up to 35-40 m visibility), refreshing in temperature (27-29 C) and harbor some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world.

          The park has 7 of the 8 species of giant clams that exist in the world. Bunaken has around 70 genera of corals; compare this to a mere 10 in Hawaii. Although the exact number of fish species is unknown, it may be slightly higher than in the Philippines, where 2,500 species, or nearly 70% of all fish species known to the Indo-western Pacific, are found.

           Sail Bunaken's auxiliary activities will be a seminar on "Building Comprehensive Maritime Security" to be organized by the Indonesian Navy, and another seminar on "Possible Benefit of  Effortd to Minimize Illegal Fishing in the Region" to be organized by the Indonesian marine and fishery affairs ministry.        
     The theme of Sail Bunaken, which is part of the World Ocean Conference (WOC) activities, will be "Protect Our Oceans for the Future Generation".

          The four-day World Ocean Conference (WOC), which was held in Manado, on May 11-15,  2009, adopted the Manado Ocean Declaration (MOD).

         In their 21-point declaration, the WOC participants representing 73 courtiers, stressed the need for national strategies for sustainable management of coastal and marine ecosystems as protective and productive buffer zones that deliver valuable ecosystem goods and services  that have significant potential to address the adverse effects of climate change.

         Manado, the capital city of North Sulawesi, where people can  enjoy both the sceneries of ocean and mountains at the same time and the same place, is embracing itself for a successful implementation of Sail Bunaken, after stealing the world's attention during the WOC.

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