Bali, Semarang and Surabaya Harbors dredged to receive Large Cruise Ships
Access channels to three cruise harbors
in Indonesia will be dredged this year to meet international demand from
large cruise ship companies, said Rizki Handayani Mustafa, Director for
MICE and Special Interest Promotion at the Ministry for Tourism and
Creative Economy recently.
The decision to give priority to
development of the three harbors was agreed between the Ministry for
Tourism and Creative Economy, the Ministry for Communications
(Directorate for Harbors and Dredging) and PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II
(Pelindo II) in charge of harbor management, reports Kompas daily.
The three harbors are Benoa harbor in south Bali, Tanjung Perak, the harbor of Surabaya, capital of East Java and the Tanjung Emas harbor of Semarang, capital of Central Java.
The two latter are located on the northern coast of the island of Java.
Cruises tie up in Semarang to allow passengers to visit the world
famous Borobudur temple, while Surabaya is the starting point for tours to the amazing Bromo crater.
The channels will be dredged 12 meters
deep to be on par with international standard harbors and to allow large
cruise ships tie up sail alongside, said Rizki Handayani. Each of these
cruise ships carry between 2,000 to 6,000 passengers each, who will
normally spend around US$ 100 per day. In addition to ships’ needs for
foodstuffs, water and other supplies, the arrival of cruise ships to
East and Central Java will certainly boost regional economy.
Director of Pelindo II, Djarwo Surjanto
supports the works on the harbors, adding that with the arrival of
larger cruise ships he hopes that related government institutions like
Immigration and Quarantine will provide equal support services to the
ships.
Dredging of the three harbors requires around Rp. 120 billion.
Last year, the mv. Legend of the Seas,
carrying 3000 tourists from Australia, Singapore, the USA, England and
Germany with approximately 1000 crew on board was the first of the
world's large cruise ships to enter Indonesia, making it through the
narrow channel, to lay alongside the Benoa pier on 16 January 2012.
This is the largest cruise ship that has
sailed into Indonesian waters and has tied at the Benoa pier, said
Sapta Nirwandar, Vice-Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy.
