Ahead Of Lebaran Homecoming, Pelni Increases Operational Frequency Of Ships On The Kalimantan-Java Route

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Pelni) has prepared a strategy to welcome the 2022 Eid homecoming. One of them is to increase the frequency of ship operations on congested routes, such as Java-Kalimantan.

Pelni's Director of Passenger Transportation Business Yahya Kuncoro said that his party had planned strategic steps related to the 2022 Eid homecoming. This was an effort to deal with the surge of homecomers this year, considering that in the past two years there was a ban on going home.

Pelni, said Yahya, has also set the peak season or the day when the spike occurs, starting April 17 or D-15 to May 18 or D+15 where the backflow occurs. According to Yahya, the date was set because the travel time for sea transportation is much longer than other modes of transportation.

"With more mature and organized preparation, we hope that we can serve the community," he said in a virtual discussion, Monday, April 18.

To anticipate the surge in passengers, said Yahya, Pelni will increase the frequency for sections that are densely packed with travelers, such as Kalimantan to Java.

"For those sections where there are predictions of a surge in passengers, we will increase the frequency. For example, from Kalimantan to Semarang, Surabaya, we will increase the frequency. So with this additional frequency, we hope that the occupancy will be in accordance with the existing PPKM regulations," he explained.

For your information, the government has regulated the occupancy or occupancy of the sea transport fleet, where for PPKM levels 1 and 2 the occupancy is 100 percent, while levels 3 and 4 are 70 percent.

Yahya also said that his party had coordinated with the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) to divert ships operating in areas that had no potential to experience spikes to areas that were densely packed with passengers.

"We have coordinated with the Ministry of Transportation to temporarily move ships that are indeed on sections that are not too congested, so that we hope that occupancy can be carried out, we can overcome the spike and hopefully it will run smoothly," he said.