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usiness players whose activities are dependent on the Tanjung Perak seaport in Surabaya are protesting the scheduled arrival of three US warships, which will be docking at the port from May 28 to June 8.

The associations argued that the warships would obstruct export and import activities at Tanjung Perak seaport, particularly at the Jamrud Utara dock, causing estimated revenue losses of US$3.15 million for the given period.

“The coming of US warships is just an opportunity for us to express our complaints that had been kept back for years and to urge the government to fix the situation at the Tanjung Perak international seaport. The port already has an occupancy ratio of 80 percent,” Steven H. Lasawengen, the Indonesia National Ship-owner Association (INSA) chairman for Surabaya.

The three warships: USS Vandegrift FFG-48, USS Germantown LSD-42 and USCG Waesche, will carry around 831 personnel and are planning to take part in an exercise code named “Cooperation of Afloat Readiness and Training” (CARAT) with the Indonesian navy.

The warships are expected to cause heavy traffic during the loading and unloading of cargo ships, as the line for the ships to berth will be longer. These delays are expected to hit businessmen with higher costs of waiting.

Steven said that the businessmen did not want to reject the US warships. They only wanted the government to realize the high berth-to-occupancy ratio at Tanjung Perak, which was over capacity, he said.

Pelindo III public relations head Edy Prasetyo said that the length of Jamrud Utara dock was 1,200 meters. Of that total, 120 meters of the dock are under repair, 500 meters are used for passenger boats and 335 meters will be used for the American warships.

“There will be only 225 meters of available dock at the port, which is only enough space for one cargo ship, with an assumption of loading and unloading processes of three to four days. Other ships will have to wait in line, while more ships come to the port,” said Edy.

According to Edy, this often occurred at Tanjung Perak and normalizing the flow of the cargo ships would take more than one month.

The number of freighters calling at Tanjung Perak has also increased significantly, up to 10 percent per year. As of March 2012, the flow of the vessels using the port reached 3,573 or 16,780,422 gross tons (GT).

The average vessel that anchored at Jamrud Utara dock had a capacity of 20,000 tons. If the logistics cost per vessel is $12,000 to $15,000 per day, a three-day berth would cost up to US$45,000 per vessel. The cost for a seven-day berth is around $315,000.

Currently the line at Tanjung Perak seaport is up to 10 to 15 vessels. Therefore, delays can be estimated to cost businessmen as much as $3.15 million, not including losses for dockworkers, the drivers and 7,400 trucks and containers. (nad)