Three company consortia are competing for the breakwater and dredging facility construction projects worth US$110.98 million at Tanjung Priok port, according to Bisnis Indonesia.

Suwandi Saputro, director of port and dredging at the Ministry of Transportation revealed each consortium consisted of Indonesian and Japanese companies.

The consortia are Rinkai-Waskita, Penta Ocean-Wijaya Karya, and Toyo-Adhi Karya. The project funds would come from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) loans.

"The breakwater facility at Tanjung Priok port will be expanded to widen the boat entry gate size to 300m from the current 150m, enabling 50,000 dead weight ton (DWT) boats to enter," Suwandi said.

The depth would also be increased to 14m from the current 12m.
The tender winner will be announced on September 29. The projects were estimated to require two years to complete.
The breakwater facility expansion had been urgent, but the construction had been stalled for five years.

In Semarang, Deputy Minister of Transportation Bambang Susantono said congestion at Tanjung Priok port could be dealt with by rearranging container traffic at the port.

According to him, in the next few years the government would still be able to develop Tanjung Priok port in accordance with the master plan.

"Congestion can still be dealt with by arranging the goods flow management traffic," Semarang said.

He explained that the port could be made more efficient by relocating empty containers to outside the port, making entry gate service more effective, and maximising the national single window (NSW) service.