TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Pelni may cancel German ship purchase, turn to local products
Change Size
Students carry out a field study at Bandar Deli Port in Medan, North Jakarta, where a ship owned by state-owned ship operator PT Pelni is docked. (Antara/ Irsan Mulyadi)
S
tate-owned shipping operator PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (PT Pelni) is mulling plans to purchase ships from local builders to replace their old fleet, as the cost of vessels manufactured by German shipbuilder Meyer Werfl – with whom the firm have signed an agreement – is not financially feasible.
“We are considering several choices [for a reasonable price]. We may turn to local products that may be jointly built with other foreign ship builders,” Pelni president director Elfien Guntoro said after a meeting in Jakarta on Monday as reported by tempo.co.
Pelni has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Meyer Werfl to buy both passenger and cargo ships. The MoU was signed during President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's visit to Germany in April 2016.
The price of Meyer Werfl’s ships stand at about 70 million euros (US$78.48 million), while Pelni is seeking to buy vessels priced at 50 million euros, Elfien said.
“The [Meyer Werfl] ships are good, in fact, too good,” he said, adding that his company needed three ships to replace the ones that have operated for more than 30 years.
The new ships will operate the Jakarta-Surabaya-Makassar- Baubau-Ambon-Sorong route. (bbn)
