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tate-owned port company Pelindo II, also known as Indonesian Port Corporation (IPC), recently began the tender process for the operation of Kalibaru’s first terminal in North Jakarta, which is Indonesia’s largest port.

IPC president director Richard Joost Lino said that the company has three major international shipping lines under consideration: Mitsui, APM Terminals and International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI).

“We plan to sign a deal with one of these companies in the middle of February [2013]. By working with an international shipping line, we can grab the global market and strengthen our position as a maritime country,” Richard told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

The first terminal, with a total capacity of 1.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), is expected to commence operations at the end of 2014.

“We are optimistic that we’ll be able to operate the first terminal on time because we are working tirelessly every day,” he said.

Armed with a presidential decree that was issued in April this year, the company will develop Kalibaru Port with a planned total capacity of 13 million TEUs worth Rp 23 trillion (US$2.36 billion). Kalibaru Port is set to be constructed in three phases.

In the first phase, they will develop three container terminals with a total capacity of 4.5 million TEUs to cope with the congested Tanjung Priok Port.

He said that the first phase would be completed at the end of 2015.

“Tanjung Priok is very crowded. On average, container traffic has increased by 20 percent annually. We cannot wait any longer and have to work fast to finish Kalibaru,” he said.

As of today, he said that container traffic in the country’s main port had almost reached 7 million TEUs, up from 5.5 million TEUs in 2011.

The firm recently advertised upcoming tenders for Kalibaru’s second and third terminals in international publications and has received a positive market response.

“Fifteen international companies have shown interest in operating the second and third terminals. We plan to begin the tender process next year,” he continued.

The Kalibaru Port project began as part of Tanjung Priok’s expansion through the construction of new terminals that would have a capacity of 1.9 million TEUs. However, as part of the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Growth (MP3EI), the government has decided to make the terminals into a port and appointed the IPC as the sole project developer.