Families Await Word on 6 Divers Held in Indonesia

Families of six Californians detained by Indonesia for allegedly entering restricted waters say their lives are on hold while they await results of an investigation by authorities there.

Jennifer Craft, wife of one of the six detained men, said: “Our lives are at a standstill. We all live hooked to our phones.”

The Californians and three Australians were on a scuba-diving vacation in the waters off the island of Sumatra on March 22 when Indonesian authorities boarded their ship, said Ruth van Heuven, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs in Washington.

Indonesian authorities suspect that the crew was searching for valuables from a Dutch ship that sank more than 200 years ago, Van Heuven said. The sophisticated sonar equipment on the boat added to their suspicion, she said.

Chartered Boat

The vacationers, who chartered the boat and hired several Indonesian crew members in Singapore, are being held aboard the boat until the investigation is completed.

“As of yet there have been no formal charges (filed against the divers),” Van Heuven said.

One of the six Americans, Cliff Craft, 43, a building inspector from Whittier, faces charges in Ventura County of pillaging an underwater wreck off Channel Islands National Park, said Allan Gordon, a Ventura County deputy district attorney.

In November, 1987, Craft and 14 other divers, most of whom are members of the California Wreck Divers Club, were charged with 24 counts of using hacksaws and hammers to steal pieces of the Winfield Scott, a wood-hulled steamship that sank 135 years ago off Anacapa Island. All were charged with disturbing archeological artifacts in a designated ecological reserve, a misdemeanor.

Ten members of the diving team were also charged with willfully defacing an object of historical interest, also a misdemeanor, which typically carries penalties of up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. An arraignment is scheduled for April 11, Gordon said.

Inspection Business

Debi Commerford of Orange said her husband, Danny, and Craft were in Indonesia to start a building inspection business in Singapore. She denied that Commerford and others were looking for sunken treasure.

“They were there to start a building inspecting business and to do some scuba diving, and that is all,” she said.

The others from California have been identified as Patrick Gibson, 47, a systems analyst from Van Nuys; Jim Vorus of Santa Monica, and Bob and Bruce Lanhan of Pleasant Hill, whose ages and occupations were not available. All were described as members of the California Wreck Divers Club.

Australian crew members joined the expedition in Singapore, Jennifer Craft said. The Indonesian crew members were hired when the boat was chartered.

Van Heuven said the U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs is making sure that the men receive food, water and legal counsel. The men are in good health and have contact with U.S. authorities in Medan, an Indonesian city northwest of Singapore, she added.

Jennifer Craft said U.S. officials have told her that Indonesia will not hold a person for more than 20 days without formal charges.