Ahead Of Christmas And New Year, The Number Of Fast Ship Passengers At Tanjung Pandan Port Rose To 265 People

The Port Authority (KSOP) Class IV Tanjung Pandan Office, Belitung Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands, recorded an increase in the number of fast boat passengers from 150 to 265 passengers ahead of Christmas and New Year 2023.

"The number of passengers from Pangkal Balam or the capital city of Bangka Belitung Province to Belitung began to increase from 150 to 265 passengers," said Marine Traffic Officer KSOP Class IV Tanjung Pandan Hengki as quoted by Antara, Thursday, December 22.

Christmas and New Year holiday passengers are starting to increase compared to normal days but this number is only half the maximum capacity of the ship.

Class IV KSOP Tanjung Pandan appealed to fast ship operators to increase their departure schedule in the event of a surge in passengers during the Christmas and New Year 2023 holidays.

Currently, continued Hengki, the scheduled departure of the Express Bahari 3 E fast boat for the Tanjung Pandan-Pangkal Pinang route is three times a week, namely Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

"If passengers continue to increase, we have appealed to ship operators to increase their departure schedule to four times a week or adjust conditions every day on the ground," he said.

He said the peak of the flow of Christmas and New Year's homecoming at Tanjung Pandan Port is predicted to occur on Friday, December 23 (D-2) Christmas, while the peak of backflow is predicted to take place on Sunday, January 1, 2023.

"We predict that the peak of backflow will occur on that date because it coincides with the end of the school holiday period," he said.

He appealed to passengers to continue to comply with the COVID-19 health protocol during the trip such as wearing masks, maintaining distance and avoiding crowds (3M).

"As well as completing travel administration documents such as a COVID-19 vaccine certificate," he said.