Publicly listed shipping firm PT Humpuss Intermoda Transportasi plans to enter the port infrastructure business to support the government'€™s program aimed at improving connectivity in the archipelago.

Humpuss president director Theo Lekatompessy said in Jakarta on Tuesday the company would provide dredging services, reclamation works or possibly port construction in the infrastructure business.

He said that the expansion into the infrastructure business was one of the company'€™s programs aimed at creating higher business value to support its future growth.

 He said that Humpuss may cooperate with Dutch or Belgian companies in the port infrastructure business.

 '€œWe will enter the port infrastructure business as part of our intention to back the government'€™s maritime highway initiative,'€ he said during a brief discussion during a visit to The Jakarta Post'€™s office.

As part of the maritime highway initiative, President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s administration plans to build ports in various parts of the country and operate more cargo ships to improve connectivity.

A weak transportation system has caused logistics distribution bottlenecks, especially from the western part of the country to the east, and resulted in a wide disparity in commodity prices. The price of Premium gasoline in Papua, for example, could be 10 times higher than in Java.

Humpus'€™ corporate secretary, Daryono, said earlier that Humpus also planned to provide cargo ship services from Tanjung Priok Port and Panjang in Lampung. The cargo shipping service is considered promising as Merak Port in Banten will be unable to accommodate an increase in cars, especially trucks to and from Lampung.

Humpuss Intermoda currently focuses in the transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG), fuels and coal. Former president Soeharto'€™s youngest son, Hutomo '€œTommy'€ Mandala Putra, is a major shareholder of Humpuss.

The company, which suffered weak sales following the 2008 financial crisis, began to record a positive sales growth between 2012 and 2014, but posted another decline in 2015 due to the country'€™s slowing economy. As of September, last year, Humpuss'€™ revenues fell 21.98 percent to US$38.17 million year-on-year. However, the company expected positive profit growth in 2015, despite the fall in its revenues.

Theo said that the company expected a sharp increase in revenues in 2016 thanks to additional revenue from its new contract to transport LNG to state electricity company PLN'€™s power plant in Bali.

'€œFor 2016, we are seeing a possible 50 percent sales growth. The contract we obtained in Bali will definitely have an impact on our monetary state this year,'€ Theo said.

Humpuss signed a seven-year contract worth around $100 million in December last year to transport LNG from Bontang to Bali. Theo said that the project would commence sometime in February and would contribute significantly toward the company'€™s sales revenue growth for 2016.

The LNG will be regasified at an LNG receiving terminal in Tanjung Benoa, near the power plant, before gas is delivered to the power plant. The LNG terminal is being constructed on a plot of land owned by state-owned port operator Pelindo III.

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