2019 Shipping Expansion: Pelni ship spending reach Rp322bn

This article has been translated by PwC Indonesia as part of our Indonesia Infrastructure News Service. PwC Indonesia has not checked the accuracy of, and accepts no responsibility for the content

Bisnis Indonesia : Ekspansi Pelayaran 2019: Belanja Kapal Pelni Rp322 Miliar

25 March 2019

By Sri Mas Sari

Jakarta — PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Persero) is preparing Rp322 billions of capital expenditure in 2019 for the procurement of ships of various types in line with the steps of the BUMN to increase revenue from commercial activities.

To the Corporate Secretary of PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Pelni), Yahya Kuncoro said that there would be several types of vessels such as barges, roll-on-roll off (ro-ro) / multipurpose vessel, Maritime Highway vessels, and pinisi.

“Currently, we are planning towards commercial, so there will be additional ships," he said on Sunday (3/24).

At present, according to him, the procurement volume and specifications of each type of vessel are still under review. Yahya said that the addition of barges is necessary and in line with the coal transportation business that the company is engaged in to supply the demand of PT PLN's power plant.

Pelni plans to transport around 100,000 tons of coal per month to PLTU in a number of areas using barges measuring 300 feet and above or bulk carriers starting from handy size vessels.

This SOE is also ready to transport other dry bulk cargoes, such as aluminium from PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (Persero) in Kuala Tanjung Port to Tanjung Priok Port, to fulfil demands for aluminium raw material based industries in Jabodetabek. Pelni is also reviewing Krakatau-Posco partnership to transport steel products and the nickel industry in Morowali.

Ro-ro or multipurpose vessels are used to support the marine tourism business. According to him, the passenger vessel business tends to be stagnant so it requires a combination of tourism activities. Later on, the ships will allow tourists to transport their vehicles.

"Ro-ro ships are generally for short distances. We are currently in the middle of reviewing its use for long distances. Therefore, in general, the specifications of the ship are definitely different from ro-ro,” explained Yahya.

He added that the marine tourism business would also be strengthened by the procurement of pinisi ships. In the initial stages, most of the procurement occurs through leasing and purchases are only for a small portion of the procurement. The method applied is a stepping-stone for Pelni prior to leaping into the cruise ship business.

“Cruise costs a fair amount, close to trillions of rupiah. We also need to learn about the demand, the customer segment. It is simply not enough to rely on domestic tourists, but also foreign tourists. Not to mention the port's readiness for docking, said Yahya.

He stated that the pinisi ships will be operated in Labuan Bajo and Raja Ampat. Yahya guarantees that Pelni's activities will not collide with the local shipping vessels (pelra) which has been operating in the two popular tourist destinations way before Pelni.

Such reason stems from the fact that Pelni will rent existing Pelra ship and work together with vessel owners. Using Pelni funds, the ship will be modified using Pelni ship engines. In 2019, Pelni budgeted close to Rp1.1 trillion in capital expenditure, a slight decrease from last year's capital expenditure of Rp1.2 trillion.