Australia began to send a navy ship and aircraft loaded with humanitarian aid and defense personnel on Wednesday to help with relief efforts in Indonesia after a deadly earthquake devastated a number of islands off the coast of Sumatra.

Australia's help came after Monday's deadly earthquake which registered 8.7 on the Richter scale.

More than 430 people have been reportedly killed in the quake and the death toll could be higher.

Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill has confirmed that the HMAS Kanimbla, an Australian navy ship which had just completed its mission to tsunami-hit Aceh of Indonesia and is equipped with a mobile hospital and medical personnel, left Singapore on Wednesday morning to help with the medical emergency.

Two aircraft were already on their way to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. The first C-130 Hercules aircraft with about 20 Australian Defense Force (ADF) personnel aboard left Richmond air base, west of Sydney, on Wednesday morning.

The second ADF Hercules loaded with tons of humanitarian aid also took off from Sydney later on Wednesday.

Australian air force Group Captain John Oddie said the two aircraft, with more than 60 rescue and medical personnel and 10 tons of water and medical supplies on board, are expected to arrive in Jakarta on Wednesday evening.

The first aid delivery would go to the town of Sibolga on Sumatra's west coast Thursday.

Hill said the Australian government planned to send a third C-130 Hercules aircraft with medical crew and supplies on board in the next few days to Jakarta for deployment by Indonesian authorities.

He said all these may not be the only defense resources sent to the region.

Earlier in the day, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the government will decide what to do next on the basis of a five-member advance aid team's assessment of the situation on the most-ravaged Indonesian island of Nias.

Meanwhile, Chris Scurrah, an Australian surf safari operator in Sumatra said he is going to launch his own aid effort to Nias.

He said he planned to leave Padang in West Sumatra on Saturday to survey the south and west coasts of Nias and its outer islands, while delivering supplies.
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2005)