Port services fees should be lowered
Biaya Jasa Pelabuhan Sebaiknya Diturunkan
Media Indonesia, 25 April, 2017
By Anastasia Arvirianty
Decrease in port service costs can increase the load factor of giant ships from abroad, so that Tanjung Priok Port can become a hub port.
THE ARRIVAL of a number of giant ships from overseas shipping companies should be made into an initial momentum for the creation of a transhipment port in Indonesia. Therefore, a number of circles have proposed that port service fees be lowered so as to increase the utilization rates of ships.
This was conveyed by Chairman of the Indonesian National Shipowners Association (INSA) Carmelita Hartoto, and Vice Chairman of Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin Indonesia) Benny Soetrisno, to Media Indonesia yesterday (Monday, 24 April).
Carmelita said that the presence of large-capacity vessels will provide efficiency because the Indonesian goods usually taken by the courier in every shipment can now be accommodated in one ship.
"Presently, it is a matter of persistent effort of the shipping [firms] to find bigger amounts of cargo, whilst they are monitored, so as to preempt any unlawful practices," she explained.
Carmelita hopes that the giant ship services will continue to run and they will not be confined for just three months, but they will go on. "For that, maybe our tariffs should be five percent - 10 percent cheaper than Singapore, our services should match those of Singapore, and most importantly, their haulage must be able to reach at least 3,000 TEUs per lift," she said.
Previously, through a release of the Ministry of Transportation, the pier of Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT), North Jakarta, Sunday (23 April), welcomed the arrival of a giant ship belonging to French shipping company Compagnie Maritime d'Affretement-Compagnie Generali Maritime (CMA CGM), named Otello.
CMA CGM’s Otello is a container vessel with a capacity of 8,500 TEUs and a length of 334 metres. The vessel would unload 844 TEUs of imported containers and load export containers (amounting to 1,967 TEUs), making the total loading and unloading volume reach 2,811 TEUs.
In line with Carmelita, Benny Soetrisno assesses that the visit of large vessels with a capacity of 8,500 TEUs must be accompanied by a decrease in costs. That way, entrepreneurs can press down the price of free on board (FOB) so that product orders will increase and large ships will stop at Tanjung Priok. "The impact is that the load factor of ships will also increase," said Benny.
Hub port
Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi, said that the arrival of such a ship at this time marks the commencement of scheduled ship service by CMA CGM ships to and from JICT Terminal, Tanjung Priok. The service operates the route to Los Angeles Port, the United States, on a regular basis every week, with a Sunday-Monday window, and is served with a maximum window time of 24 hours.
He continued, saying that, at the beginning of the service, there are indeed not many transhipment containers taken on board yet because the customers are still adjusting the transhipment documents directly to the US. However, CMA CGM has targeted to build export transhipment volumes from ports in other parts of Indonesia to be brought by domestic feeder vessels for subsequent transporting by CMA CGM vessels to the US.
"The concept of hub and spoke like this will soon be realized and the Port of Tanjung Priok can become a hub port in Indonesia, as well as for Asia in the future," said Budi. (Tes/E-3)