Indonesia will be moving its maritime transportation system to a hub and spoke model centred on its existing major regional ports which have been upgraded to meet demand, local reports quoted Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi as saying.
Indonesia currently still relies on direct shipments for international cargo, with mainline calls still hubbing in other major transhipment ports in the region such as Singapore or Port Klang. Budi wants the large Indonesian ports to be used as the hubs going forward.
“We know we have big ports, such as Tanjung Priok [Jakarta], Tanjung Perak [Surabaya], Belawan [Medan] and Makassar [South Sulawesi], but none of them serves as a hub. They mostly still depend on other international ports. With this role, we are going to conduct reforms based on this hub-and-spoke concept,” he said on the sidelines of the launch of the main Tanjung Priok port’s new container terminal.
The new concept will strengthen Tanjung Priok’s role as a domestic and international hub port and imported goods from Europe and China can be transshiped through it, he added.However, Budi noted that this had to be coupled with service improvements, such as improving dwell time, which has proven to be a perennial problem at Indonesian ports.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.
