REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANDAR LAMPUNG -- Minister of Transportation Ignatius Jonan inaugurated a coal seaport terminal of state-owned coal company Bukit Asam in Tarahan Port, Bandar Lampung.

"I hope ships of as much as 240 thousand deadweight tonnage (DWT) capacity can dock at this port," the minister said here on Wednesday.

The capacity of the seaport has been increased by 210 thousand DWT, making it the largest coal seaport in Indonesia where ships with a capacity of 240 thousand DWT can dock.

According to Jonan, the development of the port's capacity was a strategic move to improve the performance and efficiency of the company.

Bukit Asam has worked with state-owned railway company Kereta Api Indonesia to develop means of transportation.

"All the coal is transported by rail because the capacity of highways is insufficient to endure the loads. The roads need five times greater capacity than that currently," Jonan remarked.

Timely distribution of coal is essential to meet the needs of power plants in Indonesia.

"If distribution does not go well, there will be no electricity," he pointed out.

Earlier, Director of Bukit Asam Milawarma had stated that the port only had one dock with a capacity of 80,000 DWT and one barge with a capacity of 10,000 DWT.

After the development, the Tarahan Port has three docks, including a new one with a capacity of 210 thousand DWT that can operate simultaneously.

"With the development of this port, the coal stockpile can reach one million tons," Milawarma affirmed.

In addition to the increase in the port's capacity, the coal seaport now has loader equipment with a capacity of 6,000 tons per hour, which means that 210 thousand DWT vessels can be fully loaded in less than three days.

Coal from Tanjung Enim (South Sumatra) is transported to Tarahan Port by a 60-carriage train, with each carriage carrying loads of 50 tons of coal.

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