Teluk Semangka Class Indonesian Landing Ship Tank (LST)

KRI Teluk Semangka class ships are Landing Ship Tank [LST] type vessels used to carry personnel, aid supplies and other heavy equipment to help post-disaster recovery efforts. These ships were made by South-Korea and commissioned in 1981 and 1982. The last two units have large helicopter hangars and command facilities. The KRI Teluk Ende (517) is the last ship of the Teluk Semangka class large landing ships, the final unit, is also outfitted as a hospital ship. KRI Teluk Ende-517 is named after Teluk Ende (Bay of Ende), which is also known as Baai van Endeh, Ende Baai, Hende, and Hèndé. Ende, with it's 60,000 residents is the biggest city on Flores. Located along the southern coast, it's hidden in the curve of a small peninsula. At both sides of it is a harbor. Most shipping activity is concentrated in Pelabuhan Ende, which is located at the western side and has a good view over Teluk Ende (Bay of Ende). In February 2001 Dayak mobs hunted down and killed Madurese, including women, children and the elderly. The bloody attacks by indigenous Dayaks on Madurese migrants in the river town of Sampit, Central Kalimantan, have claimed hundreds of lives, mostly Madurese. It was a mad scramble as thousands of refugees trying to escape the riot which swept Sampit rushed to board a navy ship taking them away from ethnic violence which has claimed over 210 lives. But to the dismay of some 20,000 refugees who had gathered, only one ship, KRI Teluk Sampit, was docked and ready to be boarded at Samuda, some 40-kilometers south of Sampit. The ship had a capacity of less than 2,000. The refugees, mostly Madurese migrants, must await the arrival of the KRI Teluk Ende which had also been dispatched from Surabaya, East Java. Indonesian warship KRI Teluk Ende which arrived in Surabayae on 26 February 2001 with more than 3,200 refugees who became victims of the ethnic clashes in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, returned to the troubled area the next morning. "As there had been requests for transport of more refugees, KRI Teluk Ende will return to Sampit, while KRI Teluk Sampit still remains in Surabaya for further orders," spokesman for the local naval authorities Lt Col Ditya Soedarsono said here Monday night. He said the 1,800 refugees, mostly Madurese, will also be brought to Surabaya, which is close to their hometowns in Madura. Indonesian Navy TELUK ENDE (517) was photographed at Surabaya on 27 November 2006, without red cross markings. Two Indonesian's Navy Ships, KRI KI HAJAR DEWANTARA 364 and KRI TELUK ENDE 517, made a three days goodwill visit to Brunei Darussalam from 14 to 16 April 2009. Their arrivals at Muara Port were received by senior officers of Royal Brunei Navy and officials from The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesian. In October 2010 Navy warship KRI Kalakay carryied at least six tons of basic necessaries from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Wasior in the district of Teluk Wondama in West Papua recently hit by flash floods. The Command has also sent three other warships to help overcome the impact of the disaster namely KRI Teluk Ende-517, KRI Fatahilah-361 and KRI dr Soeharto-990. KRI dr Soeharto served as a floating hospital and had much experience in carrying out humanitarian missions in a number of places in the country.