Being the busiest sea-crossing lane in the Sunda Strait, the Merak-Bakauheni routes have so far been served by at least 52 ferries of various sizes. However, the government has set a size standard for ships that could be deployed to serve passengers willing to cross the Sunda Strait from Sumatra to Java or the vice versa.
The government, through Transportation Ministerial Decree No. PM 88 of 2014, has stipulated that starting from Dec 24, 2018, each ferry to be operated on the Merak-Bakauheni routes should be less than five thousand gross tonnage (GT) in size.
The Directorate General of Land Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation has pointed out that the authorities will move 9 of the 52 ferries usually serving the Merak-Bakauheni ports to other ferry ports. The nine ferries are less than five thousand GT in size.
According to ministerial decree, the operation of a ferry vessel of at least five thousand GT in Merak-Bakauheni routes will be effective from Dec 24, 2018. Director General of Land Transportation Budi Setiyadi, in a press conference at the Office of the Ministry of Transportation Jakarta on Wednesday (Nov 7), explained that the obligation to operate the larger tonnage ship was stated in Ministerial Regulation PM 88/2014.
Therefore, nine of the 52 ships usually serving the routes will be diverted to other ports in the country. "There are nine units of ferries that will be diverted because it is impossible for them to increase their tonnage to above five thousand GT. We are studying the next operation areas for them," Setiyadi explained.
He elaborated that the reason for the removal of nine vessels from Merak was because it is stipulated in the Ministerial Decree PM 88/2014 that only ships of five thousand GT can be operated on the Merak-Bakauheni routes as of Dec 24, 2018.
Therefore, the Ministry of Transportation offers to the owners of the ships other operation areas, such as the routes of Bitung-Ternate (already served by ex-Merak ships), Jakarta-Surabaya, Jakarta-Semarang, Surabaya-Lembar, Paciran-Garongkong, Pagimana-Gorontalo, Kupang-Kalabahi, and Batam-Kuala Tungkal.
The director general noted that the government also considered offering the crossing lane in Sorong City, Papua Province, to support connectivity to Raja Ampat tourism destination.
"In Sorong, this year, we started building a pier for the state-owned waterway transportation services (ASDP`s) there. Hopefully, we can operate the relatively large pier because we see the fast growth of Sorong city, especially as a tourism buffer area in Raja Ampat," he pointed out.
According to the Ministry of Transportation, some 68 ships with five thousand GT will be operated at Merak-Bakauheni ferry ports beginning Dec 24, 2018. Of the 68 units, there are 22 five thousand GT ships that are already operating there, 21 units of old ferries whose tonnage have been upgraded, and 25 new vessels.
The Ministry of Transportation ensured that the 68 vessels could meet the needs of the people, especially with the operation of the Lampung-Palembang toll road, which affects the growth of travelers crossing the Sunda Strait.
Regarding ships of less than five thousand GT, which will be diverted to other areas, Setiyadi elaborated that the ship operators had been notified four years ago.
"We have given a four-year deadline. The deadline will till Dec 24, 2018,and we will begin implementing ministerial decree PM 88. We expect that the operators would know about it and would directly implement the content of Minister?s Decree PM 88," Setiyadi noted.
Earlier, in 2014, the Ministry of Transportation recorded the number of ships operating in the Merak-Bakauheni ports at 52 units. Of the total, 22 units were already above five thousand GT, and 30 units were still under five thousand GT.
Ship operators who are grouped in the National Transport Union of Waterway Transportation Service (Gapasdap) and in the Indonesian National Ferryowners Association (INFA) have been ordered to replace their old ships with the new ones or increase the ship`s tonnage to five thousand GT.
According to Setiyadi, based on talks with ship operators and businesses, the four-year deadline to increase the ship`s tonnage to five thousand GTs is quite enough for the operators to reach the breakeven point.
In the meantime, transportation observer Ilham Malik noted that operators should have made preparations for the implementation of the ruling. "I am confident that all companies have made preparations to implement the ministerial regulation that will come in force from Dec 14," Malik stated here on Monday.
He added that the process of drafting until the issuance of the regulation had been discussed along with all stakeholders, such as companies or operators and other related experts.
Hence, the operators were not justified in saying they were not yet prepared. This holds significance since the increase in GT will also boost the ferry`s capacity and reduce the vehicle waiting time at piers of both the Merak and the Bakauheni ports.
"Ready or not, operators must be prepared to raise their fleet`s status. Hopefully, all operators would prepare their ships before Dec 24," he added.
After all, the operation of five thousand GT ships on the Merak-Bakauheni ferry lines will increase transportation capacity, convenience, and passenger safety, Malik pointed out.
Edditing by Rahmad Nasution
Reporter: Andi Abdussalam
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
