President Joko Widodo has pledged to make Indonesia a maritime power, through an ambitious programme to improve port infrastructure, a plan to shut down illegal ports and eliminate smuggling in the country and through playing an active role in resolving maritime conflicts in the South China Sea.

The Jakarta Post reported that Widodo has instructed the transportation minister to warn the owners of illegal ports that they must begin permit processes to avoid termination. Cabinet secretary Pramono Anung told the newspaper in June that many ports were unaware they were operating without legal permits.

The country has 114 official ports of entry, but hundreds of illegal entry points dot its more than 17,000 islands, which would stretch nearly from New York to London.

Successful development could benefit the country in a number of ways, Widodo has said, including increased use of its port facilities by shipping lines and in its efforts to rebuff Chinese encroachment near its outer islands.

“We will develop areas such as Entikong, Natuna and Atambua so that the world sees Indonesia as a great nation that pays attention on every inch of its land,” Widodo said in August, speaking at the president’s annual Independence Day speech in Jakarta.

China has declared waters near the Natuna Islands archipelago, off the northwest coast of Borneo, as part of its traditional fishing grounds. Although Indonesia is not a claimant in the larger dispute between China and other nations over its claims to areas in the South China Sea, Widodo has sought to reinforce his country’s sovereignty over its territory. To underscore that sovereignty, the Indonesian navy sank more than 70 impounded foreign vessels near the archipelago in August.

“Indonesia has to be actively involved in promoting the resolution on South China Sea spat through negotiation and peaceful measures,” Widodo said in his speech, while affirming that Indonesia is committed to the peaceful resolution of international conflicts.

In September, Widodo opened an expansion of the New Priok Container Terminal (NPCT) 1 in Kalibaru, in northern Jakarta. The terminal is the first of five phases that are expected to be completed in 2019; it is operated by state-owned Pelabuhan Indonesia II, Singapore’s PSA International and Mitsui.

“We cannot delay the development of modern ports any longer,” Widodo said at the opening. “This supports trade flows and investment in this country.”

The port, which handles most international shipments into Indonesia, has been known for its long handling times. Widodo said at the opening that logistics costs in Indonesia are 2.5 times higher than they are in other Southeast Asian countries.

“If we’re slow, we’ll be left behind,” he said.

The new terminal boasts an 850-metre dock that can accommodate up to two New Panamax class ships, each carrying up to 10,000 TEUs. Prior to the expansion, the terminal could only handle ships with a capacity of 1,500 TEUs. The new terminal provides capacity for an additional 1.5 million TEUs to Priok’s existing 7 million TEU capacity.

The Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) has been actively improving its offerings, including undertaking a gate modernization programme and instituting an advanced e-billing system, both of which will make the terminal operate more efficiently.

The gate modernization programme was timed to coincide with SOLAS requirements coming into play earlier this year, and includes weight-in-motion sensors. “There is no longer any need for trucks to queue,” said Riza Erivan, president director of JICT. JICT added 20 of the new gates, each of which uses the new system.

“It is very important for us to report the exact weight of a container before it is loaded on the ship,” he said.

The terminal’s new e-billing system has also improved efficiency, as customers no longer have to queue to pay, and they no longer have to carry large amounts of cash. An added benefit, he says, is that because transactions are handled through a machine similar to an ATM, customers don’t even have to meet with any JICT employees, interacting instead with a machine.

By Gregory Glass

Asia Cargo News | Jakarta