Large Lorries Queue for Miles at Padangbai Port, Loading and Unloading Accelerated

The ferry route from Padangbai Port in Karangasem, Bali, to Lembar Port in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), recently experienced long queues. However, the congestion only affected large goods lorries, while foot passengers, motorcycles, and small cars continued to operate normally. The lorry queue even snaked for several kilometres outside the Padangbai Port area. The situation was subsequently resolved following swift coordination between relevant parties by accelerating the loading and unloading process. “It is true that there was a long queue from Friday (12/6/2026) until Sunday (14/6/2026) morning. But since Sunday (14/6/2026) afternoon until now, there has been no more queue; it is quiet,” said the Head of the Padangbai Port Area Police, Kompol I Wayan Gede Wirya, on Monday (15/6/2026). Wirya explained that the queue occurred due to an operational disruption on one of the sea toll ships on the Ketapang, Gilimanuk to Gili Mas, Lembar, NTB route, which suffered damage and had to undergo docking. This situation caused some lorries to choose the crossing route via Padangbai Port to avoid congestion at Gilimanuk Port. “There was a long queue at Ketapang, so lorries chose to go via Padangbai. That is what caused the long queue here since last Friday,” Wirya said. The situation on the ground was exacerbated by the activity of picking up foreign tourists at the Padangbai People’s Pier who had just arrived from Gili Trawangan and was quite busy. This condition required police officers to manage traffic flow around the port. “Now it is safe and quiet thanks to loading and unloading being accelerated from the previous 2.5 hours to 1.5 hours,” Wirya stated. Meanwhile, Port Operation Superintendent Yeri Kena also confirmed the increase in lorry queues over the past few days. However, the increase only occurred for goods transport vehicles, while foot passengers, motorcycles, and small cars did not experience a significant surge. “There was an increase in tronton lorries from 56 units to 114 units per day; for the others, it is still quiet,” Yeri Kena said.