AMSTERDAM: The port of Rotterdam has gone into partnership with Indonesian port corporation Pelinda 1 on the planned new Kuala Tanjung deep water port near the city of Medan in North Sumatra in the Strait of Malacca.
The Dutch port and Pelinda 1 have agreed to carry out a joint feasibility study into the project for the execution of which Rotterdam will set up a specialised unit with staff in Indonesia and Rotterdam.
The port of Rotterdam authority said that, on the basis of this study, it would decide whether or not to form a joint venture with Pelinda 1 for realisation of the project.
It compared the project with the joint venture it formed with the Sultan of Oman in 2003 for the development of the port of Sohar in Oman and also with Porto Central in Brazil, in which it is also involved via a joint venture agreement.
“The development of a sea port in Indonesia is consistent with the port authority’s foreign policy that, among other things, is focused on creating opportunities for Dutch companies abroad,” it said.
It noted that the city of Medan was situated on one of the most important shipping routes in the world and that Indonesian president Joko Widodo had made it clear that he wanted to strengthen his country’s maritime sector as part of the government’s efforts to promote economic growth.
A port of Rotterdam spokesman told IHS Maritime that no date was available at this point for completion of the feasibility study.
“We are investigating what the possibilities are over there,” he said. “We are going to investigate the market.”
The Jakart Post reported recently that China’s Tianjin Port Company and Japan’s Marubeni group had also expressed interest in participation in the Kuala Tanjung project. It said that, in the first phase of development of the project, Pelindo 1 hoped to bring into service a new $344 million multi-purpose terminal in the first quarter of 2017, with annual container handling capacity rising to 2 million teu by 2019.
