Dredging works at Bengkulu port to complete in next 7 months

Dredging works at the Pulau Baai port in Bengkulu, which start this month, are expected to be completed in seven months, an official of state port operator PT Pelindo II said on Monday.

General Manager of the firm's Bengkulu branch Ade Hartono said that the project will be completed in two stages with the first stage, aimed to clean out the bed of the harbor to 6 meters below low water spring (LWS) from three meters at present, expected to be completed in four months.

The second stage, aimed to dredge the harbor to the depth of less 10 meters of LWS, will be completed in three months after.

Once the project is completed, the Pulau Baai port will capable of handling 6 million tonnes per annum of commodities and can be accessed by vessel with a capacity of 40,000 DWT.

Coal accounts for around 78 percent of the commodities handled at the port, he added.

He also said that Pelindo had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 14 coal miners to optimize the use of Pulau Baai port in Bengkulu in April 2011.

The MoU was signed by Pelindo II's President Director R.J. Lino and representatives of the coal mining companies including PT Reksaindo Guriang Tandang, PT Kaltim Global, PT Bara Adhipratama, PT Citra Selaras, PT Danau Mas Hitam, PT Indonesia Riau Srivantika and PT Borneo Suktan Mining.

The mining company would pay $1.5 per tonne of coal when the dredging reached the depth of 6.5 meters below LWS. The contribution will be increased to $5 per tonne when the dredging reached 10 meters below LWS. (*)