State-owned ship operator PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Pelni) announced on Sunday that passengers on its ships will be provided with free Wi-Fi.

“We have turned on our Wi-Fi. Now, every passenger and ship crew member can enjoy free access to Wi-Fi from June 8 to July 1,” Pelni spokesperson Akhmad Sujadi said as quoted by Antara in Jakarta on Sunday.

Akhmad explained that after July 1, Pelni passengers would be allowed five megabytes worth of Wi-Fi. To use more data, they could buy Wi-Fi coupons on board Pelni ships, he added.

He said that among 24 ships the company would deploy to serve passengers during this year's Idul Fitri holiday season, only 18 ships would provide the free Wi-Fi service.

To implement the service, Pelni collaborated with communications provider Len Industri to build communications systems on its ships by using very small aperture terminal (VSAT) technology. VSAT also helps the ships to monitor day-to-day operations.

The addition of free Wi-Fi to increase the quality of services on ships comes amid a continued decline in the number of people who travel by ship each year.

Pelni recorded that in 2017, 573,944 people traveled using their ships during the Idul Fitri exodus, down from 763,916 people in 2014 and 815,392 in 2012. (hol/ebf)