Association Demands Improvements to Reduce Ship Queues at Merak Crossing

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – Long traffic jams on the Merak crossing route in Cilegon City, Banten, recur every year. This situation is complained about by drivers, truck operators, and people around the port because it causes losses for them.

Chairman of the Merak Truck Operators Association (Petruck), Marhan, stated that the frequent long queues have disadvantaged many parties. He exemplified that the large number of trucks queuing on the main road severely disrupts the activities of people around the port.

“Because the public can no longer freely use the main road access for their daily activities. In addition, our drivers also suffer from increased operational costs, reduced income, disrupted mental and psychological well-being, and claims due to delivery delays,” said Marhan in a press release in Jakarta, Thursday (2/4/2026).

Marhan demanded that all the ships that are idle at Merak Port be operated. He found that there are still operators who do not operate their fleets during the peak passenger season. “Gapasdap should operate those many idle ships so that queues no longer frequently occur,” said Marhan in his demand.

Separately, Chairman of the Merak Branch of the National Association of River, Lake, and Ferry Transport Entrepreneurs (Gapasdap), Ir Togar Napitupulu, stated that the many idle ships on the Merak crossing route cannot all be operated. This is due to the limited number of docks, where the ships berth.

“The number of ships that are not operating or idle is indeed many, but due to the limited number of docks, those ships can no longer be operated,” explained Togar.