Police Take Action as Severe Traffic Congestion to Gilimanuk Port Extends 18 km

Vehicle queues to Gilimanuk Port in Bali continued to snake along for tens of kilometres on Monday, 16 March 2026.

The heavy flow of vehicles intending to cross to Java Island has resulted in the routes to the port becoming congested over the past several days.

The Traffic Police Corps (Korlantas) of the Indonesian National Police cited the lengthy queues as being triggered by the high number of vehicles waiting their turn to board ferries heading to Ketapang Port in Banyuwangi.

Brigadier General Faizal, Director of Law Enforcement (Dirgakkum) of Korlantas Polri, stated that congestion was not caused by traffic disruptions on the roads themselves, but rather by the vehicle queuing process for boarding vessels.

“The problem is the crossing. These people are queuing waiting for ships to cross,” Faizal said when contacted on Monday, 16 March 2026.

Based on the latest data on Monday around 4 pm local time (WITA), vehicle queues to Gilimanuk Port remained extremely long from two different directions.

Ariasandy, Head of Public Relations of the Bali Regional Police, stated that the vehicle queue from the Denpasar direction had already reached the area of Melaya Village.

“The tail of the queue from the Denpasar direction extends to Persil Bridge in Melaya Village, Melaya District, at a distance of approximately 18 km, whilst from the Singaraja direction it extends to Cekik Forest at approximately 6 km from Gilimanuk Port,” said Ariasandy.

To ease congestion, police and related agencies implemented various traffic management measures around the port area.

Field officers accelerated the movement of priority vehicles and conducted vehicle parking at Gilimanuk Cargo Terminal and Cekik Weighbridge.

Additionally, traffic flow for large trucks was reorganised. Vehicles previously directed to the Manoeuvre parking area were now redirected directly to LCM Gilimanuk parking so that queues could be better organised.

“Meanwhile, officers continue to manage traffic flow in the field to ensure vehicles maintain proper queuing order,” he said.

Within Gilimanuk Port itself, nearly all parking areas have been filled with vehicles awaiting ferry schedules.

Ariasandy stated that all parking areas at berths MB 1 through MB 4, including LCM and Terminal Manoeuvre areas, are currently full with vehicles predominantly comprising private cars.

“As of 4 pm WITA, a total of 33 vessels were operating,” he said.