Pelni to procure new ships

Pelni to procure new ships

JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned shipping firm PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Pelni) will increase the number of its passenger vessels from 13 to 24 within the next four years, says Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto.

"Pelni will have two additional ships, KM Binaiya and KM Bukit Raya, this year and its fleet will comprise 24 passenger ships by 1988," Haryanto said at a ceremony commemorating the company's 42th anniversary here yesterday.

The two vessels will be supplied by Jos L. Meyer GmbH & Co. of Germany under a contract for the purchase of three similar vessels, to be called Binaiya, Bukit Raya and Leuser. The last vessel was delivered earlier this year.

Pelni's president Roesman Anwar told reporters that his company is expected next year to receive the 16th vessel, which will cost 80 million marks.

"We will pay 10 percent of the cost for the 16th vessel, with the remaining 90 percent paid by the government. They will receive a loan from Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KFW) of Germany," he said.

Roesman said the other eight ships, each with a capacity of 500 passengers, will be delivered in the following years.

Fare increase

Roesman said that increases in operational costs and the prices of new ships will force his company to raise its fares by 20 percent.

He said that his company sent a proposal to the Ministry of Transportation three months ago on the increase of its fares.

"The price for a passenger ship has increased from 60 million marks ($35.92 million) in 1983 to 105 million marks ($62.87 million) currently," he said. He added that the fuel price has also increased.

Pelni's operational costs have increased to Rp 85.55 billion last year from Rp 72.6 billion in 1992, while its operational revenue increased only to Rp 67.85 billion from Rp 61.4 billion.

Pelni, established in 1952 as the continuation of NV Koninklijke Paket Vaart Maatschapij, transported more than 3.9 million people last year. They will transport more than 4.6 people to 65 ports this year. (icn)