Minister to separate logistics transport to ease Ketapang-Gilimanuk congestion

Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi has confirmed the government will tackle congestion on the Ketapang-Gilimanuk crossing by separating logistics and passenger transport services to improve traffic flow at the ferry port. “We want to separate freight and passenger services, just as we did at Merak-Bakauheni, and we will implement this at Ketapang-Gilimanuk,” the Minister stated in Jakarta on Saturday. He noted that the government has collaborated with the Bali Provincial Government and several stakeholders to increase ferry service capacity at Gilimanuk as part of efforts to ease density. According to Dudy, capacity enhancement will be carried out by optimising facilities in the Celukan Bawang area, which is planned to become a logistics transport service point, adopting the handling pattern already applied on the Merak–Bakauheni route. “The Governor of Bali and I have collaborated on this, with Pelindo to increase capacity, especially in Gilimanuk. Pelindo operates there, and there is Celukan Bawang, whose capacity will be upgraded,” he said. “The plan is for logistics to go there. The pattern is more or less the same as how we divided Merak-Bakauheni,” Dudy added. He explained that the government will separate passenger and freight transport services so that vehicle flows are no longer concentrated at a single port, which is expected to improve operational smoothness on the Ketapang-Gilimanuk crossing. With this separation, the government hopes vehicle queues will decrease because freight and passenger services will no longer interfere with each other during the loading and unloading process. The Minister noted that congestion during the upcoming Christmas and New Year 2026/2027 holidays is expected to be lower than during the Eid homecoming period, so the government is prioritising infrastructure readiness ahead of the next mudik season. He explained that recent congestion on the Ketapang-Gilimanuk route was triggered by damage to the Bulusan Pier, forcing some ferry services to be diverted to the PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry terminal. This diversion increased the operational burden on the ASDP pier, as it had to handle additional vehicles previously served by Bulusan Pier. Dudy said a major obstacle arose because many large-tonnage logistics vehicles that previously used Bulusan Pier had to use a terminal with more limited capacity. Due to these capacity constraints, service for large trucks became less optimal, affecting the flow of vehicles crossing to Bali or Java. “The Bulusan pier is managed by the regional government, and it suffered damage, so we had to divert traffic from Bulusan to the ASDP pier. One of the constraints of the ASDP pier is its limited capacity,” Dudy stated. In addition to the pier damage, ferry capacity was also reduced because one ship operator experienced disruptions, meaning the number of operating vessels was not at maximum. The Ministry of Transport has asked PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry to coordinate with the East Java Provincial Government so that repairs to the Bulusan Pier can be completed promptly and it can resume operations. He said that with infrastructure repairs and the implementation of separate freight and passenger services, it is hoped that recurring congestion can be prevented and the Ketapang-Gilimanuk crossing will operate more smoothly in the future.