JAKARTA, Kompas – Landing craft tank (LCT) vessels serving Bojanegara-Bakauheni route will surely not transport passengers. LCT vessels will only transport trucks and passengers are transported by passenger vessels sailing nearby.
“We always obey the government’s regulation. Passengers are only transported by passenger vessels. We also do not transport private vehicles,” said PT Bandar Niaga Raya (BNR) Operational Director, Pitter Hasjim, in Jakarta on Wednesday (1/21).
Pitter’s emphasis is the response of protest delivered by River, Lake, and Ferriage Transportation Employer Association (Gapasdap) in Merak-Bakauheni route (Kompas, 1/20). According to Gapasdap, BNR’s operation is not safe since it transports passengers in LCT vessels. Moreover, BNR existence also disrupts their business since BNR’s tariff is cheaper for 10 percent.
Maritime Transportation Director General, Bobby R. Mamahit, said he will deal with his officers if they allow LCT vessels to transport passengers.
The One and Only
BNR is the only shipping line serving Bojanegara-Bakauheni route and using its own port. According to Pitter, the shipping service BNR provides come from the government’s demand due to queue at Merak-Bakauheni ferriage port.
“The peak was in 2011 when horrible queue occurred in Merak. We were called by the government to give a hand. Then, we offered ferriage assistance using our LCT vessels through our ports,” Pitter said.
In 2013, Transportation Ministry’s Maritime Transportation Director General issued a regulation prohibiting LCT from transporting passengers besides vessel crews. With the regulation, BNR reconstructs one of four LCT vessels it has into a passenger vessel. BNR only operates one LCT vessel.
“Our LCT’s transporting capacity is only 40 vehicles while a passenger vessel can transport 30 vehicles and 140 people. We do not transport private vehicles. In a day, we only conduct four round trips,” Pitter said.
BNR also has tramper permit allowing it to stay at any ports issued by Maritime Transportation Directorate General. BNR does not have ferriage permit since it is issued by Land Transportation Directorate General for ferriage route in ferriage port. (Kompas)
