PELNI orders six new vessels from PT PAL<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): State shipping firm PT Pelni has ordered six
\nCaraka Jaya 4,180 DWT freighters from state shipbuilder PT PAL in
\nSurabaya to replace its old ships.<\/p>\n
Pelni's president, Roesman, said yesterday his company was
\nnegotiating with state-owned PT PANN Multi Finance about the
\nleasing agreements.<\/p>\n
He said Pelni was expanding its freight service and making
\nthis its core business along with inter-island passenger
\nservices.<\/p>\n
\"This cargo business will be our core business although
\nseveral of our freighters still lose money,\" Roesman was quoted
\nby Antara as saying at the company's 45th anniversary.<\/p>\n
Pelni has 20 cargo vessels with combined tonnage of 35,840
\ndead weight tons.<\/p>\n
Cargo carried by Pelni fluctuated from 840,569 tons in 1994 to
\n833,505 tons in 1995 and 911,971 tons last year.<\/p>\n
Besides cargo vessels, Pelni has 19 passenger ships which can
\ncarry 23,608 passengers and serve 75 ports across the country.<\/p>\n
The company expects to get another passenger ship from German
\nshipyard Jos L. Meyer. The new ship will increase passenger
\ncapacity to 25,611.<\/p>\n
Last year, Pelni transported 4.79 million passengers, down
\nfrom 5.2 million people in 1995.<\/p>\n
The company expects to carry 5.5 million people this year.<\/p>\n
The company posted a Rp 27.37 billion (US$11.3 million) net
\nprofit last year, up from Rp 12.03 billion in 1995.<\/p>\n
It aims to lift its net profit to Rp 39.59 billion this year.<\/p>\n
Pelni is one of PAL's largest domestic customers. Other large
\ncustomers are the Djakarta Lloyd oceangoing shipping company,
\nstate oil company Pertamina, state electricity firm PLN and the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
PAL's executive vice president, Suleman Wiriadidjaja, said PAL
\nhad trouble selling its ships to private companies because of a
\nlack of soft credit.<\/p>\n
Suleman said the government or the central bank should help
\nlocal ship builders by providing soft loans to companies buying
\nlocally made ships.<\/p>\n
He said if the government did nothing to help, private
\ncompanies would keep buying ships overseas.<\/p>\n
The government has set up PT PANN Multi Finance to help local
\nship builders.<\/p>\n
PANN Multi Finance buys ships from PAL and leases then
\ndomestically.<\/p>\n
PANN, with soft loans from the central bank, has bought more
\nthan 30 Caraka Jaya freighters from PAL and leased them to local
\ncompanies.<\/p>\n
But PANN's purchases have recently been restricted by a lack
\nof new soft credit from the central bank.<\/p>\n
Faced with a tight domestic market, PAL has been promoting its
\nships overseas where buyers have easy access to long-term credit.<\/p>\n
Suleman said recently his company had orders for dozens of
\nships worth US$1 billion from Germany, Britain and the
\nNetherlands.<\/p>\n
PAL is overseen by the Supervisory Board for Strategic
\nIndustries, which is chaired by the state minister of research
\nand technology, B.J. Habibie, who is also PAL's president. (rid)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pelni-orders-six-new-vessels-from-pt-pal-1447893297",
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