Gilimanuk Port Operates 24 Ferries To Serve Lebaran Travelers

Denpasar (Antara Bali) - Bali's Gilimanuk ferry port has put  24 of its 28 ferries into service to transport post-fasting month travelers whose number began to rise on Saturday, a port official said.

The number of vehicles, particularly two-wheel vehicles, making the crossing to East Java's Ketapang port  was expected to reach over 5,000 on Saturday.

"Since yesterday, port activities have been increasing with the number of motorcycles ferried to Ketapang port recorded at 5,000 units," operations manager of inland waterway firm PT ASDP for Gilimanuk, Ospar Silaban, said on Saturday.

He said the number of motorcycles using ferry services on Friday reached 5,000 units and on Saturday it was expected to exceed 5,000 units.

In an effort to anticipate a drastic increase, PT ASDP was operating 24 ferries of the 28 ships that had been made available.

He said that although there was an increase in the number of vehicles, yet it did not create a long queue. "There is no queue at present," he said.

He said the increase also happened with private cars. He said that based on the experience in previous years Gilimanuk port would see the peak of activities on two to one days before the Idul Fitri D-Day on Friday.

Ospar called on travelers to conduct their Idul Fitri trips before the peak days in an effort to avoid traffic jams and long queues.

Millions of seasonal passengers travel to their home towns to have family reunions during the annual post-fasting Lebaran holidays.

During the Idul Fitri holiday season last year,  the number of home-bound travelers reached  about  27.25 million, of which 16.2 million used various public transportation modes while the remaining 11.2 million used private cars and motorcycles.(*)