Yachts Arriving In Riau Islands For Maritime Festival

JAKARTA, Oct 27 (Antara) - Tens of yachts from various countries arrived Wednesday evening in the waters of Tanjungpinang City to witness Riau Islands Maritime Festival (FBK) 2016 being held in the province from October 20 to 30. Head of Riau Islands' Tourism Service Guntur Sakti said in Tanjungpinang on Wednesday that the yachts had traveled far from various countries. They had also stopped in Bangka Belitung province before sailing to Tanjungpinang, provincial capital of Riau Islands (Kepri) Province. "This afternoon, another yacht is about to enter the waters of the County Hall of Tanjungpinang," Guntur who is also vice chairman of the Riau Islands Maritime Festival 2016, said. He said yachts which are still laying achors in Singapore are scheduled to arrive in Tanjungpinang on October 29, coinciding with the peak of the festival. There are tens of yachts which will be attending the events. "Yachters came from various countries," he said. Security teams with personnel from various institutions are on guard in the waters to be passed by the yachts. The committee wants to make sure that tourists are in safe and comfortable conditions when witnessing various activities of the festival. "This event is being organized in cooperation with all relevant sides. The roles of various institutions in making it a success are very important," he said. Since a few days ago, three yachts had laid anchor or berthed at Platform I of Tanjungpinang. They got an invitation published in one of the online media. The Riau Islands Maritime Festival 2016 is part of Sail Karimata Strait 2016 whose peak event was opened by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in North Kayong District, West Kalimantan on October 15, 2016. Sail Karimata which has been launched since June 2016 involved four provinces of Riau Islands, Jambi, West Kalimantan and Bangka Belitung. Besides actvities in West Kalimantan, the Sail also featured a national seminar on maritime affairs, organized in Jambi on August 25, 2016, and witnessed the Belitung Festival on October 22 and the Riau Islands Maritime Festival on October 29. Yachters from Italy, France, Australia, the Philippines, the Netherlands, the US and Singapore are participating in the sail racing event, including the Oct 19-24 event in Bangka Belitung. As many as 22 yachts from eight countries have laid anchors in Ketawai Island beach, Central Bangka District, Bangka Belitung Islands Province. In Tanjungpinang, a decorated car parade will be held on Thursday (Oct 27) as part of the sail festival activities and is expected to break the Indonesian Museum Regord (Muri) as the longest parade in the country. The committee of the Riau Islands Maritime Festival (FBK) 2016 said the parade included a decorated ship parade. Guntur Sakti, who is also deputy chairman of the FBK 2016, said on Wednesday that the decorated cars will pass on the Kota Lama city area while the decorated ships will sail through the waters of the Tanjungpindang County Hall. "The longest decorated car and ship parades will be participated in by various government's institutions which are to be awarded the Muri certificates," said Guntur. The certificates for the decorated car parade will be handed over to Tanjungpindang Mayor Lis Darmansyah while that of the ship will be received by Riau Islands Governor Nurdin Basirun. "The decorated car parade will be followed by a cultural carnival whose participants will be students," he said. The FBK 2016 committee will also organize a marching band attraction whose participants will consist of students from the Air Force Academy. "The marching band will directly be led by the Air Force Academy's governor," he said. According to Guntur, the FBK 2016 which will peak on October 29 will likely be attended by Vice President Jusuf Kalla. The event will also see a skydiving demonstration. A total of 26 skydivers have arrived in Tanjungpinang. They also made a field inspection on Wednesday evening."We will organize a skydiving rehearsal in the next two days," he said. The FBK 2016 is part of Sail Karimata Strait which is being held until the end of October 2016 to promote the country's tourism. The Tourism Ministry has set a target of 5,000 foreign and 10,000 domestic tourist arrivals during the sail racing event. The ministry's calculation shows that the event could have a direct impact, in the form of income valued at Rp75 billion. Sail Karimata is the eighth of Sail Indonesia series organized for the first time in 2009. The previous sail events were Sail Bunaken, held in North Sulawesi in 2009, Sail Banda in Maluku in 2010, Sail Wakatobi-Belitung in Southeast Sulawesi and Bangka Balitung in 2011, and Sail Morotai in North Maluku in 2012, in addition to Sail Komodo in East Nusa Tenggara in 2013, Sail Raja Ampat in West Papua in 2014, and Sail Tomini held in the provinces of Central Sulawesi and Gorontalo in 2015.