JICT opens direct link to India

The Singapore-registered MV Sima Kija docked at the Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) in Tanjung Priok on Thursday, marking the opening of a direct India-Jakarta Straits (IJS) service.

The container vessel has a deadweight of 17,030 tons and 790 twenty-feet equivalent unit (TEU) capacity.

Simatech Shipping LLC started its IJS service at the JICT with a port rotation of Jakarta-Singapore-Navasheva (India)-Colombo- Jakarta.

JICT president director WS Wirjawan said the opening of the new direct service proved that Jakarta was more than ready to handle more direct vessels efficiently and accurately.

"We will continue soliciting new direct services to berth at JICT to make it unnecessary for local exporters and importers to pay a double handling charge and other inefficient costs," he said in a media statement.

Indonesia exported and imported a total of 5.5 million TEU containers last year, with 80 percent of them passing through Singapore.

The government has been working to overcome the notorious inefficiency and rampant illegal fees in Indonesian ports as part of an effort to slash the high cost economy and boost the competitiveness of Indonesian products on the global market. -- JP