Siltation at Cilincing Fishermen's Harbour Causes Frequent Propeller Breakage

JAKARTA — Siltation in the harbour mouth at Cilincing Fishermen’s Dock, North Jakarta, is not only hindering ship traffic but also causing fishermen’s boat propellers to frequently break due to grounding while passing through.

Hadi (not his real name), one of the fishermen, stated that the shallow mouth makes boats prone to grounding. The increasingly shallow waters require fishermen to be extra cautious, especially when exiting the anchorage basin towards the open sea.

“Propellers often get damaged. The propellers break,” he told Kompas.com on Friday (10/4/2026).

“Broken, the propeller turns often ground here, ground in the mouth,” he said.

Another fisherman, Bobby (45), expressed similar concerns about the impact of the siltation on boat propellers.

“The worry is, if there are big waves and we go out to sea, we hit concrete blocks or the siltation breaks the propeller,” he said when met by Kompas.com on Friday.

He mentioned that the current water conditions increase the potential for damage, especially when boats are about to head out to sea. If the siltation continues, fishermen will have to prepare more spare propellers as a precautionary measure.

“Boats have quite deep propellers, more than below the boat. That’s what worries us, the propellers will break faster. We have to have at least three to four spares,” he said.

Bobby hopes for handling measures to reduce the risks faced by fishermen, such as re-dredging the mouth and installing depth marker buoys.

“Yes, the hope is that it’s dredged again, so the worry lessens a bit. And marking where it’s deep, where it’s shallow, at least buoys from the project side,” he added.

Kompas.com observations at the site on Friday (10/4/2026) showed several shellfish fishing boats moving up and down in the mouth. On the side of the ship lane, some children were seen swimming.

However, instead of floating, they could stand upright due to the shallow water depth. Two of them even appeared relaxed carrying their friend on their shoulders.

In another part, concrete structures and a construction platform were visible in the middle of the sea. Next to it was a long mound of soil extending towards the waters.

On top of the mound, reclamation activities were underway with one excavator unit and transport trucks moving back and forth.

Kompas.com has attempted to seek a response from the Head of Public Relations for Pelindo Regional 2 Tanjung Priok, M. Anwar. However, until this news is published, there has been no official response.