Raja Ampat Aggressor

Raja Ampat Aggressor is a steel vessel 100 feet (30 metres) long with a 26-foot beam, three Hino V10 diesels of 420 hp each driving three shafts, and 220-volt power on board. Sixteen guests, eight cabins, a crew of fourteen, cruising speed 8 knots. Her home port is Sorong Harbour in West Papua.

The ship carries two lives and two names on her hull at once: OCEAN ROVER in large letters on the bow, and Raja Ampat Aggressor in script along the superstructure. It is the same vessel — the steel Ocean Rover, built in Phuket in 2009, moved under the flag of Aggressor Adventures, which has worked Raja Ampat since 2015, and the old lettering was simply never painted over.

The hull is steel and beamy, which tells on the crossings. She does not work a single park but half the archipelago: the core Raja Ampat itinerary out of Sorong over 7 or 10 nights, a summer week in the Derawan Islands off Kalimantan, and four twelve-night crossings that string together Raja Ampat, Halmahera, Lembeh, North Sulawesi and Derawan. Each crossing has its own embarkation and disembarkation port, so tickets have to be booked into different airports — Sorong (SOQ), Manado (MDC), Berau (BEJ).

The cabins sit on two decks and every one has a private bathroom. On the upper deck, beside the open lounge, there is one Master with a queen bed (cabin 5) and three Deluxe with picture windows (cabins 6, 7, 8). On the main deck, by the salon and dining area, there are two Masters with a queen bed and an upper single (cabins 3 and 4) and two Deluxe with portholes (cabins 1 and 2). The cabins are compact, about 7.5 m²: the operator says plainly that they are meant for divers who spend the day on deck and underwater, and who stow a soft bag under the bed. Each has individual climate control, a monitor with a media player and a hair dryer.

All diving is done from two inflatable tenders: the yacht anchors near the site and guests go out in groups. A 7-night trip yields 19–22 dives, a 10-night trip 30–33, up to four a day, night dives included. Currents in Dampier Strait are strong and drift diving is routine, so an SMB with a reel is mandatory and the operator advises bringing a reef hook. Tanks are 80 cu ft with K/DIN convertible valves — no adapter needed.

Only one fee is paid on board, the port and park fee: $250 per person on the Raja Ampat and Derawan itineraries, $260 on the twelve-night crossings. If a guest already holds a valid Raja Ampat marine park card (the MPA tag, good for 12 months), the office must be told at least 10 days in advance and the card brought along — then the fee is waived. The on-board account is settled on the last day: Visa and MasterCard are accepted, as is cash in rupiah, euros and dollars — but dollars only as brand-new, unfolded $100 notes dated after 2006, otherwise a 5% surcharge applies.