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Preparations to transform Batam into international logistics hub
Batam has the strategic position as a gateway for air and sea transportation in the business and trade sector.
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ith the status of the Free Trade Zone as its superior strength and with its Hang Nadim International Airport and Batu Ampar Seaport managed by Badan Pengusahaan Batam (BP Batam), Batam has the strategic position as a gateway for air and sea transportation in the business and trade sector.
Hang Nadim International Airport is designed to be transformed into a logistic hub, which is expected to boost the economy and industry in Batam. The step to develop the facility aims to attract cargo ships from the North America and Europe to transit in Batam before flying to Australia.
Batam’s Hang Nadim International Airport can serve as an alternative transit for national airlines that will explore special route operations for cargo ships to and from China, Japan, India and the Middle East without having to go to Singapore.
That is why the development and expansion of the cargo building has become one of the crucial steps to support it. A cargo apron that has been developed measures 500 meters in length and 168 meters in width. With the length and the width, the cargo apron at the Hang Nadim International airport can accommodate 5 Boeing-777s.
Currently, Hang Nadim International Airport’s cargo building measures 80 meters by 32 meters. Under the next plan, a terminal and cargo building with an area of approximately 9,600 square meters will be built. BP Batam completed the construction of Taxiway and Apron 04 in the area of the Hang Nadim International Airport at the end of 2020.
The cargo apron will be built to support the Cargo Building in order to boost Batam’s competitiveness, projected to transform the Hang Nadim International Airport into an Airport Logistic Hub in Indonesia’s Western part.
Chairman of BP Batam, Muhammad Rudi mentioned that his side had a plan to develop Hang Nadim International Airport and Batu Ampar Seaport and other ports.
The development of the two sectors constitutes an initial preparatory step to transform the area into an international logistic hub with the hope that this will help boost the economy in Batam and Indonesia.
BP Batam has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the operation of Hang Nadim International Airport with PT Bandara Internasional Batam as a Business Implementation Agency (BUP) formed by PT Angkasa Pura Consortium, Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC), PT Wijaya Karya Tbk. (Persero) [WIKA] as the winner of a tender regarding the procurement of the government-to-business cooperation (Public Private Partnership/ KPBU) of the Batam Hang Nadim International Airport.
Meanwhile, BP Batam has developed the Batu Ampar Seaport by presenting a ship-to-shore (STS) crane from South Korea. The presence of the STS crane is believed to enable the container loading and unloading service at the Batu Ampar Public Terminal to be smoother and more efficient.
The STS crane, with a weight of 760 tonnes, has the loading and unloading capacity of up to 35 container boxes per hour, which can shorten the dwelling time at the Batu Ampar Public Terminal. This will, in turn, reduce the logistics cost spent by businesses.
The presence of the STS crane has been viewed as a progress, given the heavy container ship traffic at the Batu Ampar Seaport. The Seaport sees more than 600,000 containers per year.
With the operation of the STS crane by BP Batam, priority will be given to the entire process of loading and unloading containers from domestic and international ships at the Batu Ampar Public Terminal by utilizing the loading and unloading device from Korea.
BP Batam takes part in constructing roads as part of the efforts to interconnect every industrial area, including the construction of an artery road connecting Batu Ampar area to Batu Besar, Nongsa.
The renovation and development of Hang Nadim International Airport involves many parties and the development of Batu Ampar Seaport has gradually shown results. Moreover, the two facilities are strategically located at the international traffic of the Malacca Strait and Southeast Asia, believed to become a flight and logistics-hub destination domestically and internationally.
