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Ship operators to reduce ferry services following fuel price hike
Ship operators under the River, Lake and Water Transportation Operators Association (Gapasdap) have announced that they will scale back ferry services on several major routes to cut down losses, as the Transportation Ministry has not yet implemented a new pricing scheme following a significant fuel price hike earlier this month.
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Drivers queue to enter the Roro ship at the Bakauheni port in Lampung. (Antara/Ardiansyah)
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hip operators under the River, Lake and Water Transportation Operators Association (Gapasdap) have announced that they will scale back ferry services on several major routes to cut down losses as the Transportation Ministry has not yet implemented a new pricing scheme following a significant fuel price hike earlier this month.
Gapasdap tariff commission head Rakhmatika Ardianto said that the operators would reduce trips on the Merak-Bakauheni route, which connects Java and Sumatra Islands, the Ketapang-Gilimanuk route connecting Bali and Java Islands, the Bajoe-Kolaka route, which connects South Sulawesi to Southeast Sulawesi, the Lembar-Padangbai route connecting Lombok and Bali Islands and the Tanjung Kalian-Tanjung Api-api route connecting Sumatra and Bangka Belitung Islands.
"For example, on the Ketapang-Gilimanuk route, we will scale back services from eight trips to five trips a day per ship. Each ferry will have a longer docking time, up to 1.5 hours from the usual 45 minutes. So, it will take passengers a total of 2.5 hours to cross from Java to Bali Islands and vice versa. Usually it takes only 1.5 hours," Rakhmatika said in Surabaya on Saturday.
There are 48 ships run by 23 operators on the Ketapang-Gilimanuk route and the reduced ferry service is expected to create a hurdle for supply chains in the popular crossing route and even across the country.
The prices of subsidized and a number of unsubsidized fuels were raised by the government by around 30 percent on Sept. 3 due to the heavy burden on the state budget, as oil prices were increasing higher than projected.
Following strong demands to set up a new pricing scheme from ship operators, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi issued a decree No.172/2022 on the adjustment of cross-provincial ferry trips pricing on Sept. 15, allowing an 11.9 percent tariff hike in 23 routes across the country.
The ministerial decree was set to take effect three days after its issuance, but it has not yet been implemented until now.
