Visiting Batam, Minister Of Transportation Discusses Port Arrangement

The visit of the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi to discuss the arrangement of the port area. (BKIP Kemenhub)

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi said the arrangement and development of ports in Batam and surrounding areas must continue to be carried out so that their existence is more optimal and competitive.

This was conveyed by Budi in a coordination meeting with a number of technical implementing units (UPT) in Batam, Riau Islands.

Budi said port operations in the Riau Islands are relatively busier because they are related to import exports and also close to the Malacca strait, which is an international trade route and close to neighboring Singapore and Malaysia.

"For this reason, a detailed, diligent, and integrity work is needed from all levels of UPT in Batam and its surroundings," he said in an official statement, Sunday, July 9.

As for the Batam area, there are five ports, namely Batu Ampar Port, Kabil Port, Sekupang Port, Telaga Punggur Port, Nongsa Port, and Batam Center Port.

Batu Ampar, Sekupang, and Kabil ports serve cargo ships and passengers, while Telaga Punggur, Batam Center, and Nongsa ports serve passenger ships.

It is planned that one port will be built, namely on the island of Tanjung Sauh, Nongsa, Batam, which will be integrated with the Tanjung Sauh Industrial Estate, which is one of the National Strategic Projects (PSN) of 24 Industrial Estates spread throughout Indonesia.

In addition to port arrangement, Budi also highlighted problems related to the installation and activation of automatic ship identification systems or the Automatic Identification System (AIS) on ships.

AIS is an automatic tracking system using a transceiver installed on board and used by ship traffic services.

"Currently, ships are still often found that kill the AIS system while in Indonesian waters, so its whereabouts are not tracked down," he said.

Budi emphasized that the ranks of KSOP and Disnav in Batam must intensify law enforcement efforts in accordance with applicable regulations. "We must carry out strict law enforcement, otherwise this will be increasingly out of control," said the Minister of Transportation.

In the International Maritime Organization Convention (IMO), AIS has been installed on international shipping vessels with 300 gross tonnage (GT) or more.

Nationally, the government through the Ministry of Transportation has issued new regulations regarding the activation of AIS through PM 18 of 2022 concerning Automatically Identification Systems for Ships conducting Activities in Indonesian Waters. In this new regulation, it is stated that ships that violate can be subject to fines of up to Rp75 million.

If this is done consistently, it will not only increase the potential for Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP) that should be obtained by the state, but can also overcome the illegal problems of coal exports and other produce. The PNBP obtained later can be used for infrastructure development and improvement of transportation services.

In addition to law enforcement, Budi said, it requires strong synergy and collaboration with related parties, such as for example with the Director General of Customs and Excise of the Ministry of Finance. Apart from Ministries / Institutions, synergy with academics also needs to be done to study an effective and efficient monitoring system.

"That way, it is hoped that ships that go in and out of Indonesian waters can be more obedient to continue to activate AIS," he said.