Indonesia: Freight shipping wave of the future, says minister

• Oct 26, 2017

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said on Thursday that he aimed to reduce up to 30 percent of Jakarta-Surabaya truck service into freight shipping by using roll-in roll-out (roro) ships.

“The current issue is that the trucks operating along the Jakarta-Surabaya routes are [often] overloaded. The heavy trucks will damage the roads,” he said on Thursday.

The government spends at least Rp 1 trillion (US$73.57 million) annually to repair damage roads located near the northern coast of Java (Pantura).

The minister said about 12,000 trucks ran along Pantura’s roads every day, but only half of them reached Surabaya.

“Our first target is to reduce it by about 30 percent or 2,000 trucks. It will require 10 roro ships,” he said.

Budi said, currently, only three roro ships are being operated for the Jakarta-Surabaya shipping route each day. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/10/26/freight-shipping-wave-of-the-future-says-minister.html