Repair work sarts on damaged Madura underwater cables

Repair work sarts on damaged Madura underwater cables

SURABAYA (JP): State electricity company PLN began on
Wednesday repairs on two damaged underwater cables between Java
and the outlying island of Madura.

Head of PLN's East Java distribution office Hizban Achmad said
the task would take two months.

The cables -- allegedly damaged by the Singaporean-flagged
Kota Indah on Feb. 19 -- are being repaired by British Insulation
Cable Company (BICC) of London.

BICC produced the cables and installed them in the Madura
Strait in 1986.

"The repair work was actually scheduled on Tuesday but due to
some problems with BICC's barge, the repair work was delayed
until today," Hizban said in a news conference on Wednesday.

"But, God willing, we shall be able to supply the island with
enough power by the end of this month."

PLN will pay BICC Rp 55 billion (US$6.3 million) for its
services.

PLN accused Kota Indah, owned by Sinagapore's Pacific
International Lines, with damaging the cables by dragging them
with its anchor off Gresik Port in East Java.

PLN spent about Rp 215 billion (about US$130 million based on
the 1986 exchange rate) to buy and install the cables.

The damage has cut power from the Gresik power plant to
Madura's population of three million since Feb. 19.

The island has no power plant and is dependent on the power
supply from Java, which is transmitted through a four-kilometer
underwater cables.

PLN has provided several diesel power generators to continue
supplying power during the transmission problem. However, the
generators can only supply about 45 megawatts (MW) from the
island's demand of 70-MW.

Minister of Mines and Energy Kuntoro Mangkusubroto earlier
said repairs could take months if the damaged part of the cables
was longer than PLN's 170-meter-long reserve cables.

He warned the cables were not available on the spot market and
PLN would have to order the cables from manufacturers if the
reserve cables were insufficient.

"Fortunately, after studying the damage, we found that only 80
meters of the cables were broken. Thus, we don't need to order
new cables and we can immediately replace the broken parts of the
cables with our reserve cables," Hizban said.

PLN's president Adhi Satriya earlier said PLN would sue PIL
for damages in Surabaya. The 164-meter-long Kota Indah is
reportedly insured by P&I Club Britannia London.

Hizban said PLN was preparing documents for the lawsuit and
the vessel had been impounded and its captain detained. PLN will
seek Rp 150 billion in compensation.

Damages include Rp 55 billion to pay BICC for repairing the
cables, Rp 25 billion to reimburse PLN for its reserve cables
used to replace the broken cables, and Rp 70 billion for PLN's
outlay for the lease of the diesel power generators.

Kuntoro and Adhi earlier said PLN would relocate some units of
its power plant in Gresik to Madura as a precaution against a
similar incident in the future.

Hizban said PLN was pushing ahead and would install the 40-MW
power units in September this year in Gilitimur village of
Bangkalan district.

"We have appropriated land for the power plant. We did not
face any difficulties in buying the land as the Madurese are very
supportive of the plan to develop the power plant," Hizban said.

The government has instructed PLN to reduce by 50 percent its
power bills for the island in April and free subscribers of
charges next month as compensation for losses incurred from the
outage. (jsk)