Jakarta, June 18 (Antara) - The Merak-Bakauheni and Ketapang-Gilimanuk are the two crossing lanes that are the busiest during post-fasting Ied Fitr or Lebaran festivities season.
Merak and Bakauheni harbors are both ferry ports that connect the western tip of Java and the eastern part of Sumatra.
On the other hand, the Ketapang and Gilimanuk are two ferry ports that connect Java on the eastern tip of the island with the Indonesian tourist resort Island of Bali.
As the Lebaran season is only about two weeks away, state-owned ferry operator ASDP Indonesia has prepared about 52 ferries to serve the Ketapang-Gilimanuk crossing trips and 56 ferries to cater to Lebaran travelers willing to cross the Sunda Strait from Java to Sumatra or the other way around.
"Some 56 of the 59 ferries at Merak port will serve Lebaran travelers during the Lebaran season this year," PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry for Merak branch, Tommy Kaunan, said last week.
The ASDP data showed that the number of ferry trips for the Merak-Bakauheni crossing, the busiest route, will increase by two percent from 1,566 last year to 1,597 this year.
The D-Day 1 and D-Day 2 of Lebaran this year will fall on July 6 and July 7, 2016, respectively.
The Transportation Ministry has said the sea transportation season will last for 37 days --- 18 days before D-Day 1 and 17 days after D-Day 2.
The Lebaran transportation season for land and air transportation will last for 22 days --- 12 days before D-Day 1 and 10 days after D-Day 2.
The number of passengers who will cross the Sunda Strait through the Merak-Bakauheni ferry ports is expected to increase by 13 percent. The number of trucks will increase by four percent, motorcyclists by five percent, small vehicles by eight percent and buses by five percent.
Tommy said during the peak flow of travelers, the number of ferry trips daily is expected to reach 112 departures catering to 90 thousand passengers per day, 20 thousand motorcycles and 13 thousand small vehicles.
In order to ensure adequate seat capacity during the Lebaran transportation, large ferries will be operated five days before D-Day 1.
For passengers, PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry has set up 57 ticket windows. PT ASDP director for port affairs, Kemal Heryandiri, said in a written statement on June 10 that Merak Port is now ready to cater to one million travelers or ferry passengers and more than 200 thousand vehicles.
"Our target is that we would be able to provide services and the flow of passengers would be smooth without queues. This will ensure that travelers move comfortable, feel secure and remain safe," he said.
There will be 23 ticket windows for passengers, comprising 10 regular windows, 12 additional ones at the Marak integrated terminal and one window at the Merak train station.
For two and four wheel vehicles, there will be 16 and 12 windows, respectively.
In the buffer zone in Rest Areas at KM 43 and KM 68 of the Tangerang-Merak toll road sections, there will be three ticket windows each , taking the total number of windows to reach 57.
Kemal said for the reverse flow of passengers, PT ASDP will provide a ticket window at Hotel 56 Kalianda in South Lampung province (Sumatra).
This buffer zone ticket window will provide an alternative to travelers and they would not need to queue up at the port. By buying tickets in the buffer zone area, the travelers would be able to use the fast track at the port when they embark from the ferries. They will have special lane 1 and lane 2 going towards pier 1 and pier 2.
In the meantime, PT ASDP for Kepang port office in Banyuwangi of East Java, in its efforts to tackle the flow of Lebaran travelers this year, has prepared 52 ferries which will be operated to serve passengers willing to cross from Ketapang to Gilimanuk in Bali, or from Gilimanuk in Bali to Ketapang in Banyuwangi of East Java.
PT ASDP General Manager for Ketapang, Yusuf Hadi, said he had prepared three scenarios, namely operating 32 ferries during normal conditions, 36 during heavy passenger traffic and 38 if the flow of travelers becomes too heavy.
He said that his company has ensured that the 52 ferries are seaworthy as they have passed a docking process and were ready to ferry passengers from Ketapang to Gilimanuk or from Gilimanuk to Ketapang.
He said pier MB 1 and pier MB 2 at Ketapang and Gilimanuk ports had been rehabilitated and could accommodate ships of 35 tonnage. Previously, these could only accommodate ferries of 20 tonnage capacity.***1*** (A014/INE)eDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 18-06-2016 23:27 |
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar