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Government seeks port and shipping efficiency
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A maritime highway ship docking at Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, East Java. (tempo.co/File)
T
ransportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi promised on Thursday to improve the efficiency of ports with the aim of reducing logistics costs by between 20 to 30 percent.
"We believe efficiency at big ports in particular could be improved and that costs could be reduced by between 20 to 30 percent," he said on Thursday, adding that his ministry was calculating the loaded and unloaded costs incurred at Tanjung Priok Port.
Budi said the subsidized freightliner program, known as tol laut or the maritime highway, would commence full operations this month although he admitted there was an imbalance in the ship load between ports in the eastern and western parts of the country.
He believed the maritime highway program could be made more efficient by holding a tender to seek more efficient shipping strategies, by considering not only the number of ships but also the load carried by each ship.
"That way, it will be more efficient, because [the operator] will also offer the operation of big ships, meaning transportation costs could be reduced," he said.
The maritime highway, encompassing freightliners carrying staple goods, comprises 15 routes across the archipelago, seven of which are run by private operators. (bbn)
