"Almost no seat is left unoccupied," port chief administrator Erwin Safrizal said.
He said most of the passengers went to regions in Sumatra such as Riau , Jambi and West Sumatra.
"The boat bound for Kuala Tungkal, Jambi, and Pekanbaru in Riau was full. No seat is unoccupied," he said.
Based on his record, the number of passengers leaving Batam on Saturday reached 5,288 while the number of passengers arriving in Batam was 1,234 and for transit 166.
Erwin said the number of trips had also increased significantly. "The days before the trips number only 30 but today they reached 39," he said.
Erwin said in the next two days the hike of passengers at Sekupang would still continue. "While the number of passengers to close destinations such as Tanjung Balai Karimun, Moro, Tanjung Batu and other areas in the Riau Islands province tend to be stable," he said.
Since seven days before Idul Fitri which is expected to fall on August 30 MV Dumai Express and Batam Jet have already prepared boats to anticipate hikes in passengers.
"All operators have prepared reserve boats to anticipate hikes," the secretary of the Indonesian National Shipowners Association (INSA) of Batam chapter, Azhar, said.
He said the boats would continue to be made available until the holiday makers were back.
(Uu.H-YH/HAJM)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
