Roro Ships to Be Barred from Departing Over Safety Violations

Jakarta - The government will tighten supervision of vehicles and goods entering ships, particularly on Roro services that transport various types of vehicles. The strengthening is being carried out to reduce the risk of fire, overloading and disruption to ship stability.

The evaluation emerged after several ship accidents involving incidents in the car deck area. The Ministry of Transport considers that inspection of vehicles and cargo must be carried out before vehicles enter the ship.

“Control of overloading and overdimension (ODOL), and ship stability. The use of Weigh In Motion or vehicle scales needs to be reinforced and the results integrated with the manifest so that the weight and distribution of cargo can be ensured to comply with ship stability limits,” said Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi in a working meeting with Commission V of the Indonesian House of Representatives at the Parliament Building, Wednesday (19/8/26).

The government also highlighted the potential danger from goods carried by vehicles. Information about dangerous goods must be known before vehicles enter the ship so that their placement can be adjusted according to their risk level.

“The declaration of dangerous goods needs to be increasingly digitalised. Documents must be verified before boarding and officers must have the ability to recognise dangerous goods,” he said.

Random inspections will also be strengthened to find problems that may not be visible from administrative checks. The focus of inspections includes manifests, cargo, ship stability, safety equipment and vehicle condition.

“Random inspections before departure must be increased, especially regarding manifests, cargo, stability, safety equipment, vehicle condition and operational compliance,” said Dudy.

If problems are found that fall into the critical category, the ship will not be forced to depart. The government places the departure decision as the final stage after all safety aspects are declared to meet requirements.

“If critical conditions are found, departure must be postponed until the problem is resolved or the departure is cancelled,” he stressed.