Backlog of ships off Priok harbor slightly lessens
Backlog of ships off Priok harbor slightly lessens
JAKARTA (JP): The number of general cargo and container vessels waiting to berth at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port fell slightly yesterday to 67 after they peaked to 77 during the Idul Fitri holidays.
Henry, spokesperson for state-owned PT Pelabuhan Indonesian II which manages the port, said five vessels had departed yesterday, but 48 others still awaited berthing.
From the 48 vessels, Henry said, 24 had not yet requested permission to berth while the documents of 24 others were currently being processed.
"Another 24 have berthed and five of these have already departed," he told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
Henry said that from the 67 ships, only one was a container vessel while most of the others were freighters carrying basic industrial materials.
News reports yesterday said that the number of cargo and container vessels waiting to berth at Tanjung Priok increased rapidly as the Idul Fitri holidays closed in.
The Bisnis Indonesia daily reported that on Tuesday -- the first day of the two-day Idul Fitri holiday -- 61 vessels were anchored outside the port and on Wednesday the number rose to 77.
Marsinggih Marnadi, a member of the House of Representative's commission for transportation and telecommunications, yesterday expressed concern over the situation.
"It's not right. Shipping lines, importers, exporters and everyone in the business will suffer financial losses because of the prolonged waiting time," he told the Post.
He said that because shipping lines had schedules to abide by and other destinations to go to, "something like this would mess things up."
Marsinggih urged Pelabuhan II to make more effort to cut back the prolonged demurrage time, especially since it was now three days after the official holidays.
Bisnis Indonesia yesterday quoted Pelabuhan II director Harmani as saying that stevedoring activities declined by almost 50 percent since the beginning of the week.
Since Sunday, stevedoring activities dropped from the normal rate of 40 to 60 tons of cargo a day to 29.2 tons a day. On Monday it reached only 11.7 tons and on Tuesday and Wednesday (Idul Fitri) it reached 12.3 tons and 17.5 tons a day respectively.
Service
Harmani said the port actually provided berthing services during the holidays but ship and cargo owners refused to berth because warehouses and transportation services were closed for the holidays.
He also blamed the downturn on a government ruling which banned container trucks from operating in Jakarta between last Friday and Tuesday.
Freight companies said the situation incurred additional waiting time and demurrage costs and delayed the berthing schedules of incoming vessels.
The waiting cost for vessels under 5,000 deadweight tons is presently US$5,000 a day, and for those over 10,000 deadweight tons it costs $10,000 a day.
A reliable source at the port told the Post yesterday that 11 of the vessels waiting to berth were owned by the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) carrying imported foodstuffs such as rice and sugar.
According to the source, three of Bulog's vessels had berthed earlier this week, but pulled out again because Bulog's warehouses and transportation facilities were not prepared.
"(People at Bulog) say they will start activities again on Monday," the source said.
The port management, the source said, has prepared a landing point which can accommodate five of Bulog's ships at the same time. "But (Bulog) hasn't used it and we really don't know what their problem is," the source added.
According to earlier reports, Bulog was unable to unload its imports -- which consisted mainly of rice -- earlier this month because its warehouses were packed with goods owned by a private company.
As a result, thousands of tons of rice were held up on vessels off Tanjung Priok and caused congestion. (pwn)