State port operator Pelindo II is increasing its investment in the Kalibaru Port project, with the first phase costing more than US$2 billion.
The earlier commitment was $1.9 billion for the entire project.
Richard Joost Lino, Pelindo II president director, said on April 23 that the Kalibaru Port would have a total capacity of 13 million TEUs and be built in three phases.
The first phase, estimated to cost $2.47 billion, will involve the development of three container terminals with a total capacity of 4.5 million TEUs, and two fuel berths. It is expected to be completed in 2014.
Lino said the groundbreaking for the first phase is scheduled for July.
The Kalibaru Port, which will have nine terminals, will be rebranded as New Priok once finished in 2023, Lino added.
Early this year Pelindo II was awarded the contract for the construction of the Kalibaru port. Then in early April, the government issued a presidential decree giving the go-signal for the company to initiate groundbreaking.
Under the initial plan, the Kalibaru Port was intended to be merely an extension of the Tanjung Priok port, the country’s busiest seaport, and will house new terminals with a capacity of 1.9 million TEUs.
But the government has opted to transform the Kalibaru project into another shipping gateway supporting the Port of Tanjung Priok, which is currently working over its capacity of 5 million TEUs a year.
Once completed, Lino said the Kalibaru Port will become the largest port in the country and “will help boost the capacity and efficiency of national logistics chains, with productivity levels comparable to major ports worldwide.”
