Bad coordination clogs port
Bad coordination clogs port
JAKARTA (JP): The poor coordination of container handling continues to cause congestion at Tanjung Priok port's container terminal.
Harry Sutanto, a spokesman for the state-owned Tanjung Priok port management company, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II, said yesterday that certain chains of coordination need to be followed by all exporters, shipping lines, transportation agents and the Tanjung Priok container terminal.
He said that when the parties fail to coordinate, the piling up of containers is unavoidable. The container terminal, for instance, may agree to handle 50 containers but the exporter may then ask a transportation agent to bring 75 or even 100 containers to the terminal for consideration. "So, we have to allow the extra containers to pile up at our terminal," he told The Jakarta Post.
He said that the terminal, with its six berthing facilities, provides a four-day window of opportunity for traders to leave their goods before they are taken out by designated ships or trucks.
Schedules
"Many transportation agents frequently don't keep to their schedules and a one-hour delay will affect the schedules of the other containers," he said.
Harry said that at the moment only a few ships are waiting for berthing at the port.
A report on Wednesday, however, said that there were 68 ships at the Tanjung Priok port, three of which were sunk, five damaged, six being repaired, 22 waiting for documentation service, 14 at the dock, 12 waiting for berthing at a special port and six others floating for allocation.
"I realize that there is congestion, but it is not that bad," said the chief of the Tanjung Priok container terminal, Amin Lihu.
He also said that he will soon arrange an integrated meeting with related parties to solve any problems.
Several exporters were reportedly disappointed with having to pay extra fees caused by the delays of export deliveries and a loss in orders.
An executive of the Indonesian Exporter Association, Naasii, said that congestion is common at the container terminal because some officers insist on examining goods before taking them out of the terminal.
The container terminal at the Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta has two sites -- one with a capacity of 17,819 20-feet equivalent units (TEUs) and the other with 4,931 TEUs.(icn)