Indonesia’s port operators in talks to coordinate shipments

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Indonesia’s state-owned port operator Indonesian Port Corporation (IPC) announced plans to establish a container terminal facility that will supervise shipping activities at all the country’s seaports in a bid to improve efficiency and cut logistics costs.

The program will involve four of IPC’s port branch operators—Pelindo I to Pelindo IV—which will together establish the subsidiary to be called PT Peti Kemas Indonesia (PKI), Indonesian media reported.

The PKI will boost coordination and cooperation among the seaport operators in handling cargo shipment in the country’s main seaports, according to a report by the Jakarta Globe.

Richard Joost Lino, president director of IPC, also known as PT Pelabuhan Indonesia or Pelindo II, said that Pelindo I to IV will deepen their drafts and fix their waterways and channels to accommodate the new facility.

“All ports should have a draft of at least 13 meters to handle ships with 3,000 TEU capacities,” he told the Jakarta Post, estimating that the investment will cost about US$210 million.

“We are ready to pour investment in the new subsidiary because it will help reduce logistics costs,” Lino said. “We expect to reduce costs by up to 50 percent.”

The PKI is expected to be operational in early 2014, he added.

Lino said that the subsidiary would operate in six main ports across the country under an integrated system to be called Pendulum Nusantara. Under the project, a main sea corridor will be created consisting of Belawan in North Sumatra, Batam in Riau Islands, Tanjung Priok in Jakarta, Tanjung Perak in East Java, Makassar Port in South Sulawesi, and Sorong Port in West Papua.

The transportation, SOE and finance ministries as well as the four Pelindos are now studying the implementation of the pendulum system.

 

Photo courtesy of IPC