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Pertamina resumes fuel shipments to Karimunjawa Islands
State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina has resumed shipments of fuel to the Karimunjawa Islands following a disruption of about two weeks due to bad weather.
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Underwater paradise: A diver explores coral reefs near the Karimunjawa Islands in Central Java in this undated photograph. (JP/Suherdjoko)
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tate-owned energy company Pertamina has resumed shipments of fuel to the Karimunjawa Islands following a disruption of about two weeks due to bad weather.
Pertamina shipped at least 1,500 3-kg canisters of LPG from Jepara Port on Friday and 115 kiloliters of gasoline from Semarang on Saturday, according to Pertamina’s spokesman for Region IV distribution, Andar Titi Lestari.
The archipelago, located some 80 kilometers off Central Java’s northern coast, has been grappling with fuel shortages. Home to some 90,000 people, the islands are famous for a marine garden and sea nature park and are a popular weekend destination for Central Java residents.
Karimunjawa is vulnerable to fuel crises, because the islands can only be reached by sea.
Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo has called on Pertamina to construct fuel storage facilities on the island to overcome the frequent supply disruptions. “With such storage, the fuel supply would not be disrupted,” Ganjar said in Semarang on Jan. 30, as reported by kompas.com.
Pertamina’s general manager for distribution in Region IV, Yanuar Budi Hartanto, said his company currently had no plans to construct such facilities, adding however that demand for storage would be discussed.
For the time being, he said, Pertamina might resort to using bigger ships to transport fuel to Karimunjawa, so that they could be on standby on the island with the remaining fuel. (roi/bbn)
