Pelni predicts peak exodus traffic on 18 March 2026

Jakarta — PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Pelni), the national shipping company, predicts that the peak of the Lebaran 2026 exodus using sea vessels will occur on Wednesday, 18 March 2026.

“We predict 18 March will be the peak of the exodus,” said Tri Andayani, Chief Executive Director of PT Pelni, in Jakarta on Friday.

He stated that PT Pelni is operating 55 passenger vessels for this year’s exodus transportation, starting with 25 large vessels carrying 500 to several thousand passengers each. Additionally, 30 pioneer vessels owned by the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) and managed by PT Pelni have a passenger capacity of 250 to 500 people.

This increased capacity is also due to government-provided ticket discounts of 30 per cent from normal prices.

Previously, Pelni announced it had sold 249,601 tickets as of Friday (13 June) for departures during the Lebaran 2026 holiday and leave period. “These tickets are for departures from 6 March to 22 March 2026,” said Tri Andayani.

According to him, this figure demonstrates the considerable enthusiasm of the public towards Pelni’s passenger vessel services.

PT Pelni operates 25 passenger vessels serving 483 routes and calling at 75 ports. In addition to passenger transport, the company also operates 30 pioneer vessel routes, which serve as an accessibility means for population mobility in the Eastern Indonesia region (3TP), where pioneer vessels call at 229 ports with a total of 516 routes and 2,515 services.

“Pelni also operates 18 cargo vessels for logistics business services. Currently, Pelni operates eight sea motorway routes and one specialised route for livestock transport vessels,” he said.