Christmas Holiday Flow At Merak Normal Port, ASDP Calls Homecomers Already Joining To Sumatra Island

The flow of vehicles at Merak Port returned to normal and was not seen in congestion at seven piers compared to D-2 or Friday (12/24/2022). ANTARA/Mansur

The flow of vehicles at Merak Port returned to normal. This condition is different from the H-2 or Friday, December 24. The congestion occurred at seven piers at Merak Port at that time. "Today, on D-1 Christmas, it is certain that the flow of vehicles is relatively normal," said Head of Public Relations of ASDP Indonesia Ferry, Merak Main Branch, Putu, in his statement in Merak, Banten, Saturday, December 24, was confiscated by Antara. The 2022 Christmas travelers using vehicles are reduced. According to Putu, most of the travelers have crossed to Sumatra Island.

The peak of vehicles occurred on H-2 reaching 11,728 units consisting of 1,388 motorcycles, 6,374 private cars, 455 buses and 3,509 trucks. "We believe that there will be fewer Christmas travelers using vehicles until tonight," he said.

According to him, currently, only five of Merak Port piers out of seven operate following the relatively declining flow of vehicles.

Those travelers from various areas in the Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang, Bekasi, Depok, Bandung and Yogjakarta areas after arriving at Merak Port can be crossed onto the ship to Bakauheni Port without any queues. ASDP Merak operates 31 Ro-Ro ships with 95 trip Merak - Bakauheni trips, so that the flow of vehicles at the port runs smoothly.

"We are optimistic that vehicles through Merak Port will decrease and it is certain that there will be a peak density on December 30-31, 2022," he said.

Meanwhile, a number of vehicles at pier 2 Merak Port admitted that they had only been able to get on the ship for a few minutes to cross to Bakauheni Port, Lampung. The journey was smooth from the Jakarta - Merak to port toll road. "We were only 30 minutes at pier 2 Merak Port was able to cross," said Hamid, a travelers to Bandarlampung.