The insurance company of British cruise ship Caledonian Sky has been asked to step in after the vessel recently destroyed a coral reef site off Indonesia, which is considered one of the world’s greatest.
Taylor was steering the ship on March 4 when it ran aground on a huge amount of coral reefs in Raja Ampat, Papua, which is part of the Coral Triangle, an area containing the richest marine biodiversity on earth. Djoko Hartoyo of the CMMA’s Information and Law Bureau said in the statement that the damage was “devastating and irreparable.”
“The destruction of Raja Ampat coral reefs which were developed by nature for hundreds of years was done in less than one day by Caledonian Sky and its Captain,” the CMMA was quoted as saying by Rappler. “It is simply impossible to restore that part of Raja Ampat. Fish that were normally seen in that particular were all gone.”
CMMA also criticised the ship captain for seemingly not caring about the destruction he caused after fleeing to the Philippines “without even bothering to wait for the assessment of the damage towards this environmental heritage of mankind.”
“Captain Keith Michael Taylor seems to be content by leaving the matter to the insurance company,” the CMMA said.
According to the ministry, Taylor could be imprisoned for committing a crime under Indonesia’s environmental laws.
“This is a criminal matter. Insurance company may be willing to pay the environmental damage, but it does not absolve the criminal side of the case,” the CMMA said in its statement.
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