Seatrade Maritime is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Indonesian govt pushing Pelni to start seafreight service by Q1 2015

Indonesian govt pushing Pelni to start seafreight service by Q1 2015
Indonesia's government wants state-owned shipping line Pelni to operate sea freightliners from the beginning of next year to reduce logistics costs and boost product competitiveness, local reports said.

Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan was quoted as saying Pelni had been asked operate the freightliner starting in the first quarter of next year. “Freightliner is a scheduled sea freight transportation, that serves pioneering routes. Currently only passenger ships serve the pioneer routes. This [freightliner] will help decrease commodity prices outside Java especially in the eastern part of Indonesia,” Jonan said. Jonan, who was formerly president-director of state-owned train operator PT KAI, said that scheduled sea freight transportation would help to stabilize the prices of primary commodities in the eastern part of the country.

He conceded however, that the government had not conducted a feasibility study prior to deciding to operate the freightliners. “It might take up to six months to complete a study, therefore we decided to just go ahead with this plan,” he said.Separately, Pelni president-director Sulistyo Wimbo Hardjito said Pelni, which currently mainly handles passenger transportation, was still preparing the plan to operate the freightliners.

"We just received the assignment this week, therefore we are still in the preparation process and we cannot yet provide the details of the plan, including the potential route and the vessel’s availability,” Wimbo said.“We are now considering the capacity of the ports, facilities and accessibility. We will be able to reveal the plan within the next three weeks,” he added.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Logistics and Forwarders Association (ALFI) secretary general Yukki Nugrahawan Hanafi said that if the government planned to subsidize the sea freight transportation that served pioneering routes, then the government should open a tender for the private sector as well.

“We are fully supporting this programme, as this is what we proposed to the government years ago,” Yukki said. “However, if the government allocated state funds to subsidize the freightliners, to be fair, then they should reveal it to the public and give chances to the private sector as well, by opening a tender,” he continued.