Evacuation 500 Tourists From Karimunjawa, Minister Of SOEs: PT Pelni Takes Fast Actions, Travel Safety Number One

JAKARTA - As many as 500 tourists who were stranded on Karimunjawa Island due to bad weather finally arrived at Tanjung Emas Port, Semarang, this morning. This tourist arrived safely.

As for the details of the 500 tourists who were evacuated, 49 of them were foreign tourists and the remaining 451 were domestic tourists.

SOE Minister Erick Thohir is grateful that all domestic and foreign tourists arrived safely at Tanjung Emas Port, Semarang, and were transported by KM Kelimutu which was sent specifically by PT Pelni.

Erick said that to support Indonesian tourism, it is very important to pay attention to the safety of tourists traveling in the archipelago.

The safety of tourists, both foreign and domestic, in the tourism industry is number one. We don't want the joy to be a disaster. I order all related SOEs to always respond quickly and pay attention to safety aspects without compromise," Erick said in writing to the media, Wednesday, December 28.

Erick admitted that he had checked with PT Pelni regarding the preparations made to help the tourists on Karimunjawa Island.

PT Pelni took swift action, and also ensured that all aspects of shipping safety and security on the KM Kelimutu ship were ready to face the big waves in bringing tourists back to Semarang. "Alhamdulillah, today they have arrived safely," he said.

Meanwhile, President Director of PT Pelni Tri Andayani said that his party immediately took a quick reaction when they received a request from the Regent of Jepara to the Ministry of Transportation and PT Pelni in order to immediately transport hundreds of tourists stranded on Karimunjawa Island.

"It is impossible to face large, three-meter-high, free-board boats whose ships are only two meters high," said Tri Andayani.

Responding to requests from Jepara, said Tri, PT Pelni immediately deviated the KM Kelimutu route. "The normal route KM Kelimutu is Sampit-Tanjung Emas Semarang-Karimun Java. We changed it to Sampit-Karimun Java-Tanjung Emas Semarang," he said.

Previously, KM Kelimutu with a normal route would arrive at Karimun Java on December 30, 2022, but the route was diverted so that it could transport tourists caught in bad weather on Tuesday, December 27 yesterday.

"Alhamdulillah, last night KM Kelimutu brought 1,458 passengers arrived and this morning he docked at Tanjung Emas Port, Semarang. KM Kelimutu with a height of 9.5 meters, 99 meters long and 1,450 tons heavy, thank God it was able to penetrate the waves in Karimunjawa waters which last night reached 3 meters," said Tri.

Tri added that KM Kelimutu was scheduled to transport tourists at 5 pm on Tuesday, but because the sea wave height reached 4.5 meters, the ship had just arrived at 9 pm. The ship was forced to run slowly because it was facing big waves, so it was four hours late from the schedule," Tri said.

After the embarration process for an hour and a half, KM Kelimutu departed at 22.30 WIB from Legon Port to display Karimunjawa. According to Tri, his party has prepared travel needs for tourists, including masks.

"We also check all fire extinguishers, buoys, fire extinguishers, and all passenger safety standards are in good condition and ready to use. Also the comfort of tourists while riding KM Kelimutu," Tri said.