It left the pier of the Eastern Region Fleet Command in Surabaya in a military ceremony, commander of KRI Dewaruci Lt Col Suharto said here.
Suharto added that in the current goodwill mission KRI Dewaruci is operated by an 88-member crew and carried 84 naval cadets and five naval officers. KRI Dewaruci was heading for Bitung port, Manado.
"After three days in Bitung, KRI Dewaruci will leave for Manila port in the Philippines, and after three days there it will head for Guangzhou, China," Suharto said.
Later it will go to Bangkok, Thailand, and after another three days it will proceed to Batam and return to Surabaya on August 26, 2011.
Compared to its previous goodwill missions, this time it was the shortest, only 52 days covering a total distance of 7,000 nautical miles.
During the trip, besides navigation training and practice, the cadets and crew also acted as cultural and tourism ambassadors as well as international diplomatic envoys.
"When calling at several cities in the two countries during the goodwill mission, we also made courtesy calls on military authorities including the local navy chief of staff and civil officials like the governors and mayors," he said.
KRI Dewaruci is the only tall mast ship of the Barquentine class will also give the opportunity to the local population to go on board the ship.
Lt Col Suharto will follow the goodwill mission on the Surabaya-Bitung route, and after that KRI Dewaruci will be placed under the command of Lt Col Haris Bima Bayuseto.(*)
(H-NG/B003).
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
