JAKARTA - The backflow of Christmas and New Year's 2023 crossing Merak - Bakauheni Port is predicted to peak Sunday (1/1) until Monday (2/1) looking quiet and has not shown a significant increase.
Corporate Secretary of PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero) Shelvy Arifin in his statement received by Antara, Sunday, said that traffic flow was reported to be still running normally and relatively quiet when compared to normal days or the same period last year.
The crossing condition, which is still quiet, is thought to be because it is predicted that extreme weather will still have the potential to occur until January 2023.
"The traffic flow is still quiet so it runs smoothly. Our estimate is that people postpone travel due to changing weather conditions and not yet conducive to shipping," said Shelvy.
At the Merak - Bakauheni crossing, based on instructions from the Land Transportation Management Center (BPTD) Region VIII Banten, ASDP had closed the crossing service for about 6 hours on Saturday (31/12) before the turn of the year due to extreme weather conditions.
The new service returned to normal at 21.30 WIB, which was served by 6 piers.
"Since last night the Merak - Bakauheni service has returned to normal. However, we hope that the community will continue to prepare for the journey well, ensure that the body and vehicle's stamina remain excellent, so that the trip can run smoothly, orderly, comfortably and safely," he said.
He said that people who will cross are expected to understand the extreme weather conditions that are hitting almost all parts of Indonesia.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) estimates that all parts of Indonesia will experience heavy to very heavy rain during the 2023 New Year holiday period.
Extreme weather conditions that can change at any time have an impact on service disruption if a temporary operational closure is carried out according to instructions from BPTD as port authority.
"We ask that service users can understand the dynamics in the field, where the potential delay in service time can occur due to delays in the ship's departure schedule due to weather conditions," said Shelvy.
Based on data from the Merak Command Post for 24 hours (period 31 December 2022 at 08.00 WIB to 1 January 2023 at 08.00 WIB) or D+6, it was recorded that the number of ships operating on the Merak - Bakauheni route according to the schedule set by BPTD was 25 ships.
The realization of the total number of passengers reached 26,795 people, an increase of 9 percent compared to the realization of the same period last year as many as 24,500 people.
A total of 5,875 vehicles were recorded that had crossed from Java to Sumatra on D+6, down 17 percent compared to the realization of the same period last year of 7,097 units.
On the other hand, Bakauheni Post data on D+6 (24 hours) noted that the realization of total passengers reached 21,427 people, an increase of 38 percent compared to the realization of the same period last year as many as 15,477 people.
The total number of vehicles recorded was 4,515 units who had crossed from Sumatra to Java on D+6, an increase of 11 percent compared to the realization of the same period last year of 4,058 units.
"For the return flow from Sumatra to Java, it has indeed shown an increase, but it is not significant according to the prediction of the peak of the backflow today. However, the forecast will start to be crowded on Monday (2/1) until Tuesday (3/1)," said Shelvy.
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