Pelindo II to expand Pulau Baai Port facility

By Tri Subhki R

State-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) II will spend a total of Rp550 billion investment to build a new facility at the Pulau Baai coal port in 2014, including the procurement of modern equipment.

"The new facility will be able to dock a 60,000 DWT vessel with two-side docking," Pelindo II Commercial and Development Director Saptono R. Irianto to Petromindo.com recently.

The Pulau Baai Port, located in Bengkulu Province, has a total capacity at 3.6 million tons of coal in 2012, and expected to increase to 5 million tons a year. Pelindo II is the operator of a number of ports in several regions in the country including Bengkulu.

Saptono said Pelindo II is expanding the Pulau Baai Port to facilitate the future larger demand to export coal and other commodities. He also encouraged coal miners in Bengkulu to ramp up their coal production.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak