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n the latest development of the maritime highway, the Transportation Ministry awarded Tuesday concession rights to state-owned port operator Pelindo III to run Teluk Lamong Port in Gresik, East Java, and Pelindo IV to run Makassar New Port in South Sulawesi.

Pelindo III, which manages 15 ports in the central part of the country, was awarded concession rights to operate Teluk Lamong Port for the next 27. The port will be inaugurated by President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo this Friday.

The port, which is aimed at easing operations in the country'€™s second-largest port, Tanjung Perak, Surabaya, cost the company Rp 3.4 trillion (US$268.6 million) in investment for the initial stage of development that was completed last year. Funding was sourced from internal cash and bank loans.

The port occupying 40 hectares of land has a capacity of 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) and 10.3 million tons of dry bulk capacity per year at present.

'€œThe port currently has a capacity of 500,000 TEUs in its domestic container terminal and 1 million TEUs in its international container terminal,'€ Pelindo III president director Djarwo Sujanto told reporters after the signing ceremony.

Djarwo added that the firm has begun the port'€™s second stage of development, scheduled to be completed next year with a total investment of Rp 7 trillion that would be used to build a pier, stacking yards, power plants and cranes.

'€œWe predict that the port will reach its maximum capacity within the next two or three years so we'€™ve decided to immediately begin the second stage of development,'€ he said.

He said the third stage of development was expected to begin in 2021, with a total investment of Rp 5.7 trillion, while the final stage of development would be completed in 2030.

The firm has also finished the revitalization project in the Surabaya Western Shipping Route (APBS), which is used as a gateway to enter Tanjung Perak Port, to widen the route from 100 to 150 meters and deepen it to 13 m for the mean low water springs (MLWS).

Following the revitalization project, APBS is now able to accommodate larger ships with a capacity of up to 80,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT).

Meanwhile, Pelindo IV, which manages ports in the country'€™s east, received the rights to operate Makassar New Port for 70 years, paving the way for the port operator to begin the construction of the port'€™s first stage of development this year.

By operating a new port, Pelindo IV hopes to increase its capacity to handle larger volumes of containers in Makassar as business activities grow. The existing port has a capacity of 700,000 TEUs and handled 560,000 TEUs last year.

'€œThe new port will initially have a capacity of 400,000 TEUs per year and will continue to be expanded to 3.5 million TEUs per year,'€ Pelindo IV president director Mulyono said, adding that the new port was expected to be operational in early 2018.