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Indonesia: Patimban seaport to start first-phase operation in November after delays
Japan-backed Patimban Port in Subang, West Java is now scheduled for partial operation in November, while its first development phase will reach completion by October despite previous delays, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has stated.
The port is located about 70 kilometers from the Karawang industrial estate in West Java, where many Japanese companies have built factories, and is expected to ease logistics in the industrial neighborhood.
“We hope everyone is working hard so that Patimban seaport can start operations in November,” Budi said in a press statement on Sunday during a recent visit to the seaport with West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil.
“There are still lots of things that need to be finalized, such as [the construction of] an access ramp, the shipping route and the appointment of a port operator, among other things. Hopefully we can finish everything on time,” he added.
Patimban seaport is one of the government’s national strategic projects, funded by an official development assistance (ODA) loan from the Japanese government amounting to Rp 14.2 trillion (US$968.5 million) for the first development phase.
The port is expected to be Indonesia’s primary export port and to ease the burden on Tanjung Priok Port and traffic congestion in Jakarta from the transport of cargo. It is also projected to support the future Rebana Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Cirebon, Patimban, and Kertajati in West Java, along with Kertajati International Airport.
In the first development phase, Patimban Port is planned to serve 3.75 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and accommodate 600,000 complete built-up (CBU) vehicles. Meanwhile, in the second phase, Patimban’s capacity will increase to 5.5 million TEUs and it is expected to reach its final capacity of 7.5 million TEUs in phase 3.
Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Masafumi Ishii initially projected in 2017 that the port’s partial operation would start in the first quarter of 2019.
In February this year, the Transportation Ministry’s sea transportation director general, R. Agus H. Purnomo, said the auto terminal would be the first part of the port to be operational in September.
He stated that the operation of the auto terminal was awaiting the completion of a connecting bridge that would be the main access that linked the terminal with the backup area.
“The bridge will connect the auto terminal and the port in the middle of the sea. It will be 1- kilometer-long and as the operation of the auto terminal is scheduled for September, the connecting bridge must be completed long before, hopefully in April or June,” Agus told reporters in Jakarta in Feb. 13.
Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/08/10/patimban-seaport-to-start-first-phase-operation-in-november-after-delays.html