The CONDITION of Patimban Port is currently considered to be unable to reduce logistics costs for Indonesia or especially the area around the port.
Transportation observer Bambang Haryo Soekartono assesses that the government’s statement regarding Patimban Port will be an important part of efforts to reduce logistics costs, but to date this has not been reflected.
“Patimban’s location is not suitable to be used as a sea port. Because Patimban Port is located in the estuary area of the Cipunagara River,” he said in his statement, Tuesday (15/10).
The river is said to be one of the large rivers in the West Java region because it is 147 kilometers long and passes through several cities. Therefore, said Bambang, it is certain that a lot of sediment will enter Patimban waters, both mud and rubbish.
“And this is a large number. Moreover, there are still several small river estuaries which also have the impact of siltation. So sedimentation will occur quickly in the port waters,” continued Bambang.
The speed of the sedimentation process, he continued, has a big influence on port performance, because the target of Patimban Port is an international port capable of accommodating 7 million TEUs per year. This means that, if calculated daily, there will be 21 ships with a capacity of 1,000 teus or the port capacity is 21 thousand teus per day.
“Meanwhile, a ship with a capacity of 1,000 TEUs requires a depth of more than 10 meters. Meanwhile, with the current rate of sedimentation, the depth of the waters around the pier is only 7 meters. For this reason, dredging is needed, which results in high economic costs for port managers. “This will usually be borne by shipping consumers,” explained Bambang.
The government is targeting 21 thousand TEUs per day. That means, said Bambang, the length of the pier needed is around 4 kilometers because the length of a 1,000 teus ship is around 200 meters per ship. Meanwhile, the length of the Patimban Port pier is no more than 800 meters.
“The question is, how can we accommodate 21 thousand teus per day, for the target of 7 million teus per year,” said Bambang.
The second reason is that Patimban Port is quite far from industrial centers in Karawang, Bekasi and Tangerang. That is around 124 kilometers for Bekasi and Karawang and 171 kilometers for Tangerang. The distance by ordinary car is around 3-4 hours and if you use a truck it will take longer and the logistics costs will be more expensive.
Currently, almost 100 percent of industrial logistics in Karawang, Bekasi and Tangerang still choose to go through Tanjung Priok Port. Except for car production, only a small part passes through Patimban Port.
“There are still no logistics for containers that dock at Patimban. Even now, the number of ships present at the port is only 30 ships every month. Of which 70% are ships for the Patimban Port development project. So, it could be said that the productivity of Patimban Port is almost approaching 0%,” explained Bambang
On that basis, he emphasized that Patimban Port cannot be said to be a Hub port to replace Tanjung Priok Port. Moreover, in comparison, Tanjung Priok Port has a capacity of 10-12 million TEUs per year, with realization of 6.4 million TEUs.
“Tanjung Priok Port has a growth rate of around 5 percent per year. This means that Tanjung Priok Port still has the capacity to accommodate containers for the next 20 years,” said Bambang.
Meanwhile, Patimban Port, which was inaugurated by President Jokowi on December 20 2020, has not recorded a single container ship loading and unloading at Patimban Port. In fact, the target for total completion of the port is by 2025, with a container productivity target of 7.5 million TEUs.
Therefore, according to Bambang, there needs to be a study involving shipping business actors and industrial business actors. “The flow of sea transportation should not be hampered by oil and gas pipelines,” he said.
“In accordance with international regulations from the Bureau of Marine Energy and Management Regulations and adopted in the Shipping Law no. 17 of 2008, oil and gas pipes must be planted 5 meters below the Sea Bed (the Hardest Seabed). So that they cannot disrupt or disturb transportation. sea,” added Bambang.
In terms of distance, according to the two, Cilamaya is closer and more integrated with industrial areas in Karawang and Bekasi, compared to Patimban. So logistics costs at Cilamaya Port are much cheaper than logistics costs when going to Patimban Port.
“My hope is that in the future, if the government wants to build a port, it must consider the distance from industrial areas, trade and busy city centers. Don’t build it without taking into account the economic aspects,” concluded Bambang. (Mir/M-4)
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