Merak-Bakauheni Crossing Smoothly During The Holiday Season

JAKARTA - The flow of crossing from Merak Port to Bakauheni, Lampung, during the holiday season runs smoothly and according to the scheduled departure and arrival of ships.

"We operate 34 ships to serve the Merak-Bakauheni route," said ASDP Corporate Secretary Shelvy Arifin, in a written statement at Merak, Sunday, December 29, 2024, as quoted by ANTARA.

From the data collected, the number of passengers traveling from Java to Sumatra since the week before the Christmas holiday until now was recorded at 377,548 people. This figure shows a decrease of 13 percent compared to the same period last year, which reached 432,551 people.

In addition, the number of vehicles that have passed has also decreased. A total of 89,337 vehicles were recorded to have crossed, down nine percent compared to last year's 98,019 units.

For crossings from Sumatra to Java, data from the Bakauheni Command Post recorded that 328,621 people had crossed. This figure is down 15 percent compared to the same period last year, which reached 386,239 people.

The total number of passing vehicles was recorded at 77,640 units, also a decrease of 12 percent compared to last year's 88,250 units.

The surge in passenger movements in the context of the Christmas and New Year holidays is expected to occur on December 28 to 30, 2024. Currently, Merak port is starting to be crowded with passengers who want to go to Sumatra.

"We predict that the peak of passenger flow will occur at night until early morning," said Yanto, one of the officers at Merak Executive Pier.