Ports Wallow In Dry Dock as Exporters Suffer
The country’s notoriously inefficient and corrupt ports, and their grossly inadequate infrastructure, are further exacerbating the problems of exporters struggling to cope with the effects of the economic crisis, the head of the country’s association of exporters said.
David Ray, the chairman of the USAID-funded Senada Indonesia competitiveness program in Jakarta, said that the country’s most important port facility, the Jakarta International Container Terminal, or JICT, was one of the least efficient in Southeast Asia, in terms of both productivity and unit costs.
“Berth occupancy rates, average turn-around times and working time as a percentage of turnaround time are well below international standards, and suggest that vessels are spending too much time at berth, or in queues outside the port,” he said.
He said the JICT was achieving roughly 30 to 40 container moves per hour, or cmph. Technical and operational improvements saw productivity increase to approximately 60 cmph in 2008.
However, increased container traffic, port congestion, labor problems and customs delays had led to productivity falling again to about 40 to 45 cmph.
“This is less than half the productivity rate in Singapore and Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia, both trans-shipment ports, which are currently working at around 100 to 110 moves per hour,” he said.
Due to delays in cargo handling, he said, the main shipping lines report that they are often compelled to leave the port of Jakarta before a vessel is fully loaded as published schedules must be kept.
They need to improve handling, and make handling charges more competitive
David Ray, Senada
“This involves various redressing charges, in addition to the cost to procure space on third-party feeders as well as losses from wasted space on their own feeders,” he said, adding that shipping lines are cutting back on capacity planned for the Jakarta port as a result of the difficulties being experienced.
In addition, he said, Jakarta’s container terminals provided only two to three cranes per ship at most, compared with three to five cranes each in Singapore and Tanjung Pelepas.
He added that despite all the problems at the JICT, it was still far ahead of other Indonesian ports
Toto Dirgantoro, the deputy chairman of the Indonesian Exporters Association, or GPEI, said that at the moment there was nothing port users could do to get around the delays.
Toto, who is also the chairman of the Indonesian Maritime Transportation Users Council, or Depalindo, said the government needed to pressure port operators to upgrade management and services if the flow of exports was to be improved and the country’s ports placed on a competitive footing with those in neighboring countries.
“They need to improve handling facilities, construct support facilities, and make cargo and terminal handling charges more competitive,” he said.
Port charges in Indonesia, he said, were uncompetitive, and failed to reflect the level of service provided.
Separately, Darmawan Taslan, a transportation analyst, called on the government to focus more on overhauling port services and encouraging greater private-sector participation so as to complement the operations of the four state-owned Pelindo companies, each of which is responsible for operating ports in different parts of the country.
“The most important thing is for the government to constantly monitor port services and port infrastructure so as to help ensure that Indonesia’s ports can compete on the global market,” he said.
The only way things could be improved, he said, would be for the government to further deregulate the sector and afford private companies greater opportunities to become involved in container handling.
“While it’s true that the 2008 Shipping Law opened the door to more competition and private-sector participation, the necessary government regulations for the full implementation of the law have yet to be issued,” he said.
In Indonesia, a law passed by the House of Representatives, or DPR, only sets out the general objectives of the legislation, with the technical aspects later provided for by regulations.
David Ray, the chairman of the USAID-funded Senada Indonesia competitiveness program in Jakarta, said that the country’s most important port facility, the Jakarta International Container Terminal, or JICT, was one of the least efficient in Southeast Asia, in terms of both productivity and unit costs.
“Berth occupancy rates, average turn-around times and working time as a percentage of turnaround time are well below international standards, and suggest that vessels are spending too much time at berth, or in queues outside the port,” he said.
He said the JICT was achieving roughly 30 to 40 container moves per hour, or cmph. Technical and operational improvements saw productivity increase to approximately 60 cmph in 2008.
However, increased container traffic, port congestion, labor problems and customs delays had led to productivity falling again to about 40 to 45 cmph.
“This is less than half the productivity rate in Singapore and Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia, both trans-shipment ports, which are currently working at around 100 to 110 moves per hour,” he said.
Due to delays in cargo handling, he said, the main shipping lines report that they are often compelled to leave the port of Jakarta before a vessel is fully loaded as published schedules must be kept.
They need to improve handling, and make handling charges more competitive
David Ray, Senada
“This involves various redressing charges, in addition to the cost to procure space on third-party feeders as well as losses from wasted space on their own feeders,” he said, adding that shipping lines are cutting back on capacity planned for the Jakarta port as a result of the difficulties being experienced.
In addition, he said, Jakarta’s container terminals provided only two to three cranes per ship at most, compared with three to five cranes each in Singapore and Tanjung Pelepas.
He added that despite all the problems at the JICT, it was still far ahead of other Indonesian ports
Toto Dirgantoro, the deputy chairman of the Indonesian Exporters Association, or GPEI, said that at the moment there was nothing port users could do to get around the delays.
Toto, who is also the chairman of the Indonesian Maritime Transportation Users Council, or Depalindo, said the government needed to pressure port operators to upgrade management and services if the flow of exports was to be improved and the country’s ports placed on a competitive footing with those in neighboring countries.
“They need to improve handling facilities, construct support facilities, and make cargo and terminal handling charges more competitive,” he said.
Port charges in Indonesia, he said, were uncompetitive, and failed to reflect the level of service provided.
Separately, Darmawan Taslan, a transportation analyst, called on the government to focus more on overhauling port services and encouraging greater private-sector participation so as to complement the operations of the four state-owned Pelindo companies, each of which is responsible for operating ports in different parts of the country.
“The most important thing is for the government to constantly monitor port services and port infrastructure so as to help ensure that Indonesia’s ports can compete on the global market,” he said.
The only way things could be improved, he said, would be for the government to further deregulate the sector and afford private companies greater opportunities to become involved in container handling.
“While it’s true that the 2008 Shipping Law opened the door to more competition and private-sector participation, the necessary government regulations for the full implementation of the law have yet to be issued,” he said.
In Indonesia, a law passed by the House of Representatives, or DPR, only sets out the general objectives of the legislation, with the technical aspects later provided for by regulations.