200,000 Travellers Cross from Bali to Java Seven Days Before Eid
Approximately 200,000 travellers from Bali crossed to Java on seven days before Eid, Sunday, 15 March 2026. This figure has been tallied since ten days before Eid, Thursday, 12 March 2026.
General Manager of ASDP Ketapang Branch, Arief Eko, stated that the company is implementing an arrive-discharge-depart (ADD) scheme to ease the congestion of vehicles queuing from Bali to Java. Of the total 35 vessels operating on the Ketapang-Gilimanuk route, 11 vessels are now running under this scheme.
“The ADD scheme is applied with a pattern where vessels only unload cargo at Ketapang Port without carrying out reloading processes, then immediately sail back to Gilimanuk to transport the next batch of vehicles,” said Arief on Sunday evening, 15 March 2026.
PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry Ketapang Branch plans to add larger vessels on the Ketapang-Gilimanuk route to increase vehicle transport capacity and streamline the flow of crossings between Java and Bali.
The presence of larger vessels will not increase the total number of vessels in operation. ASDP will only modify the fleet composition by increasing the number of larger vessels, particularly those weighing approximately 2,000 Gross Tonnage (GT).
“The number of operating vessels will likely remain around 35 units. However, we will strengthen the composition with larger-sized vessels,” said Arief.
Based on cumulative data from ten days before Eid to seven days before Eid, more than 200,000 passengers have been transported from Bali to Java. Additionally, more than 35,000 motorcycles and approximately 17,000 small vehicles have also crossed through Gilimanuk Port.
“The most significant increase occurred in two-wheeled vehicles, approximately 32 per cent compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, four-wheeled vehicles increased approximately 11 per cent,” he said.
He predicted that the flow of vehicles from Bali to Java would continue to increase and is expected to continue until 17 March. This is particularly the case as the port approaches closure on 18–20 March due to Nyepi.
Deputy Minister of Transport Suntana made a direct inspection of the congestion of vehicles queuing from Bali to Java on the route to Gilimanuk Port on Sunday evening.
Before heading to the congestion site, the Deputy Minister first held a coordination meeting with port authorities at the ASDP Indonesia Ferry office in the Ketapang Port area. The meeting discussed measures to accelerate the flow of vehicles accumulating on the Bali side so that the queues would clear quickly. “I came here only to speed up the flow from there (Gilimanuk),” said Suntana.
After the meeting, Suntana’s delegation immediately moved to Gilimanuk Port to monitor the vehicle queuing conditions directly.
One traveller, Kholik, aged 25, only arrived at Ketapang Port around 18:50 Western Indonesia Time. He previously had to wait a very long time before he could board the ferry.
He departed from the Canggu area in Bali at approximately 22:00 Central Indonesia Time using a travel service. He only arrived at the queuing car park area of Gilimanuk Port at around 10:00 in the morning, as there was a long queue leading to the port.
“Departed at 10 pm. Boarded the ferry from Gilimanuk only after evening prayers. More than 10 hours my group and I waited,” said the traveller from Probolinggo.
Another traveller, Heri, aged 45, also experienced a long queue. He said vehicle queues even reached more than 30 kilometres. “I departed from Seminyak, Bali at 8 pm. I arrived here (Ketapang Port) at almost 7 pm. The traffic jam was more than 30 kilometres,” said Heri, also from Probolinggo.
According to him, the heaviest congestion occurred in the early hours until morning. Vehicles were unable to move at all for several hours. “From 3 am to 9 am there was total gridlock, unable to move. After that, we could only slowly move towards Gilimanuk Port,” he said.
The congestion was exacerbated, he said, by chaotic traffic conditions, particularly vehicles overtaking each other in the queuing lane. “The problem is vehicles from both directions overtaking each other, making it chaotic. Many were queue-jumping,” he said.