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tate-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia III (Pelindo III) is set to commence operation of Teluk Lamong multipurpose terminal in East Java in August.

The terminal will help ease congestion in the country'€™s second-largest nautical gateway Tanjung Perak Port.

Pelindo III spokesman Edi Priyanto said that the firm had completed more than 90 percent of the terminal'€™s first phase.

'€œWe are just waiting for electricity from [state-run electricity company] PT PLN and more cranes to help the terminal become fully operational in August,'€ Edi told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Some equipment such as ship to shore cranes (STS), automated stacking crane (ASC) and automotive terminal tractors (ATT) have already been installed.

The Rp 3.5 trillion (US$290.5 million) project, which was built on 38- hectare (ha) plot, will be able to accommodate 1.5 million twenty foot equivalent unit (TEUs) containers.

The terminal has a 500-meter dockyard for international containers and another 450-meter dockyard dedicated to domestic market containers.

Pelindo III plans to develop Teluk Lamong in four stages until 2030 with a total investment of Rp 20 trillion.

The project was a part of the government'€™s Masterplan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI) to boost connectivity in the archipelago and reduce high logistics costs.

It was also aimed at strengthening East Java'€™s position as the main gateway for trade to the eastern part of the country.

'€œWe conducted a trial operation throughout May and it was pretty smooth. We still need to make improvements in some areas, especially to create an integrated operating system in the terminal, but we are optimistic things will be ready in July,'€ Edi said.

In addition, Pelindo III aimed at building a power plant in Teluk Lamong in the near future given the fact that the firm would expand the project until 2030.

The company is expecting the power plant project to enter the tender process in the second semester of the year.

'€œWe want to build a power plant that generates more than 200 megawatts of energy since we want to integrate this terminal with Tanjung Perak. We also need the power to move the automatic cranes here,'€ Edi went on.

Teluk Lamong will be the first port terminal in the country to use automatic cranes.

Pelindo III will operate the new terminal under its newly established subsidiary PT Terminal Peti Teluk Lamong.

The company will also start working on a dry bulk yard next year in addition to constructing the second terminal, Edi said.

Pelindo III manages 17 ports in the country including Tanjung Emas in Central Java, Benoa in Bali, Trisakti in South Kalimantan and Tenau in East Nusa Tenggara.