US `reconnaissance` boat moors at Bali port

Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - A US `reconnaissance` boat, GeoExplorer, has been moored in South Benoa port, Bali, since Thursday, Adj Comm Gusti Arbawa of Benoa`s Water Police Directorate General, said here on Friday.

He said he believed the US patrol boat which arrived in Bali on Thursday was likely to help monitor security conditions in the runup to the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bali on December 3-14, 2007.

"We have no idea what the real tasks and functions the US boat will carry out here," he said.

The boat was equipped with sophisticated devices to detect security threats in the runup to the arrival of US President George W Bush in the Indonesian tourist resort island of Bali.

But one of GeoExplorer`s crew members, Sudett, said the boat was sent not to carry out a reconnaissance mission. "The boat will only carry out scientific surveys, namely oil deposits on land and in the sea," he said adding that the boat`s skipper was Mike.

In the meantime, security officers were optimizing their preparations to ensure that the UNFCCC would run smoothly.

Water police officers were mobilizing four patrol boats and two NBO-150 helicopters.

The Police Headquarters will send 300 units of four-wheel and two-wheel vehicles to strengthen security measures during the UNFCCC event.