Indonesia to provide bunkering services at Sunda strait

Krakatau International Port (KIP) and Pertamina Patra Niaga have agreed to jointly develop Indonesia's bunker supply services along the Sunda Strait.

The Sunda strait is a shipping chokepoint between Indonesia's two largest islands of Sumatra and Java, about 840km south of Singapore.

Indonesia plans to establish infrastructure for the marine industry to entice more ships to bunker there instead of the strait of Malacca.

Krakatau, as well as other ports along the Sunda strait, will mainly provide 180cst very-low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), the main fuel of choice since the International Maritime Organization (IMO) mandated a maximum sulphur content of 0.5pc from 1 January 2020.

VLSFO bunkering at Krakatau is expected to commence over the next six to 12 months.

The Sunda strait is mostly used by vessels sailing from the Cape to East Asia, and by Australian vessels going to Southeast or East Asian ports. About 53,000 vessels passed along the Sunda strait in 2020, compared to 120,000 using the Malacca and Singapore straits, according to data from the country's maritime affairs authority.

Although the Sunda straits are about 10 times wider at its narrowest point than the strait of Malacca, it is more difficult to navigate because of strong tidal flows, sandbank formations, a live volcano, occasional poor visibility and numerous oil drilling platforms.

Indonesia is also home to two other alternative waterways, the Lombok and Makassar straits.

By Sammy Six