JAKARTA - Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Dudy Purwagandhi reminded the public and shipping business actors in coastal areas, especially North Sulawesi and Gorontalo, to increase vigilance in the face of potential extreme weather ahead of Christmas 2025 and New Year 2026 (Nataru).
The warning was conveyed in conjunction with the high level of shipping activity in the region, which involves tourist boats, inter-island passenger boats, logistics carriers, and fishing boats.
Dudy revealed that in the 2025/2026 Nataru period, the number of sea transport passengers is estimated to reach 2.62 million people. This figure increased by almost 39 percent compared to the previous year. At the same time, Indonesia is facing the potential for extreme weather.
This condition, said Dudy, requires extra vigilance from all parties. He asked ship operators and captains to discipline monitoring weather information and early warnings from the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), and not to force departure if the conditions are deemed unsafe.
"Maritime safety is a shared responsibility. Once there is negligence or delay, the stakes are human lives, and even more so is the public's trust in maritime transport and the future of our tourism," he said in an official statement, Wednesday, December 17.
To anticipate the risk due to extreme weather, Dudy has also instructed the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs to tighten shipping supervision, including maritime inspection of ships or ramp checks.
"And ensure that no ship sails without meeting safety standards, both in terms of technical, cargo, passengers, and vehicles," said Dudy.
Previously reported, as many as 119.5 million people are predicted to travel, both outside and within the province, during the 2025 Christmas and New Year holidays (Nataru).
The prediction is based on a survey conducted by the Ministry of Transportation's Transportation Policy Agency in collaboration with the Central Statistics Agency, the Ministry of Communication and Digital, and academics.
"According to the survey, 42.01 percent of Indonesian residents or about 119.5 million people have the potential to travel during the 2025/2026 Christmas holiday," said Dudy at a media briefing in Jakarta, Friday, December 5.
Based on the survey, there is a trend of an increase in the potential for movement of the community nationally during the Nataru Transportation of 2.71 percent, from 39.30 percent last year to 42.01 percent.
Dudy said the increase in public interest to travel during the 2025/2026 Christmas season was due to several factors, one of which was the long holiday season. Because, school holidays coincide with the Christmas holiday.
Regarding the choice of transportation mode, Dudy said that the use of private cars was the most according to the survey results, the figure reached 42.78 percent or 51.12 million people.
"The next largest mode is motorcycles at 18.41 percent or 22.00 million people, buses at 8.17 percent or 9.76 million people, rental cars at 7.43 percent or 8.87 million people, travel cars at 6.39 percent or 7.64 million people," he said.
Meanwhile, continued Dudy, air travel is predicted to contribute 3.57 percent or 4.27 million people. Meanwhile, long-distance trains are 3.29 percent or 3.94 million people.
"The ferry is 3.14 percent or 3.75 million people, the sea ship is 2.20 percent or 2.62 million people," he said.
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