Minister Budi Karya Instructs Sailing Stakeholders To Control The Smoothness Of Currents And Tighten Health Protocol

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi at the Nusantara Passenger Terminal at Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta, Sunday (12/12/2021). (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi has instructed the Directorate General of Sea Transportation and all relevant stakeholders in the shipping sector to maintain the smooth flow of passengers and goods at ports during the 2021 Christmas and New Year 2022 holidays by implementing strict health protocols (prokes).

"During the Christmas and New Year holidays, there is a tendency for the movement of passengers and goods to increase. For this reason, all stakeholders in shipping are required to properly oversee safety, maintain the smooth flow of passengers and goods, and tighten procedures," said the Minister at the time. Leading the Alert Call for Sea Transportation Readiness for Christmas 2021 and New Year 2022 at the Nusantara Passenger Terminal at Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta, as reported by Antara, Sunday, December 12.

In his statement monitored in Jakarta, Sunday, Budi Karya also reminded to anticipate extreme weather, including recent storms, which could endanger sailing ships.

The Minister of Transportation asked officers at ports to always update information and weather developments from the BMKG, in providing sailing approval letters (SPB).

"Coordination related to the weather, navigation of the cruise must be carried out properly. In the event of extreme weather, do not issue SPB until the weather makes it possible to sail again," he said.

Regarding the tightening of health procedures, the Minister of Transportation asked the officers to ensure that passengers who sailed had taken a complete dose of vaccine and had carried out an antigen test.

"If there is no vaccine or antigen test, I have asked the Director-General of Sea Transportation, PT Pelindo, and PT Pelni to coordinate providing vaccination facilities and antigen testing," he said.

Furthermore, he reminded all shipping stakeholders not to be careless in supervising the implementation of health protocols, to prevent a spike in Covid-19 cases after the Christmas and New Year holidays.

"Mr. President Joko Widodo has mandated us to take good care of this. That way, it is hoped that our economy will be better in the future and we can also carry out activities more freely," he said.

On the same occasion, the Commander of the Indonesian Navy's Military Sea Crossing Command (Kolinlamil) Rear Admiral TNI Erwin S Aldedharma explained that his party is ready to maintain the security of sea traffic during holidays, and is ready to support the implementation of vaccinations at ports to prevent a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Meanwhile, the Acting Director-General of Sea Transportation Arif Toha said that during this year's holiday period, it is estimated that there will be an increase in the number of ship passengers by 1.2 percent compared to the previous year.

To anticipate the increase in passengers, a sea transportation fleet of 1,186 vessels has been prepared, consisting of 26 ships belonging to PT Pelni, 111 pioneering ships, and 1,149 private vessels.

The Christmas 2021 and New Year 2022 Sea Transportation Activities will be carried out from D-8 (17 December 2021) to D +7 (January 8, 2022).

Along with the implementation of this Christmas and New Year's sea transportation, monitoring and control activities of traffic and sea transportation will also be carried out through 2021/2022 Christmas and New Year Sea Transportation Command.

In addition to supervising the tightening of procedures for domestic shipping, supervision of health procedures is also carried out at international arrivals for sea transportation, namely in Batam, Tanjung Pinang, and Nunukan.

The Christmas and New Year Transport Alert Call at Tanjung Priok Port was attended by a number of parties, namely the Tanjung Priok Main Port Authority Office, Tanjung Priok Main Port Authority Office, PT. (Persero) Pelabuhan Indonesia, Lantamal III, Tanjung Priok Port Police, Immigration, BMKG, Customs, KKP, Basarnas, and other related parties.