An air of anticipation hangs over the remote Indonesian port of Jayapura as the passenger liner nears the pier. Thousands of excited passengers line the open decks, eager to meet relatives and friends waiting on the dock.

A team of porters charge onboard as soon as gangways are lowered, hoping to earn cash carrying the copious amounts of baggage ashore. Up forward, the hatches are raised and stevedores begin unloading giant bags of onions and cabbages, while dockside tally clerks dodge trucks carrying containers in their quest to keep track of the cargo.

Five decades ago the scene was common in ports the world over. With commercial air travel in its infancy, most people travelled long distances by ship.

Today millions of people still travel by ship, but usually over short distances on ro-pax ferries or leisure cruises. There are a few exceptions: a handful of passenger/cargo ships still run services to remote islands in the Atlantic or the South Pacific, while in Indonesia, the state-owned PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia, better known as Pelni, operates a large fleet of passenger ships on long liner services throughout the vast archipelago nation.

Pelni’s Gunung Dempo sails from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, to Jayapura, a town in the remote westernmost province of Papua, close to the border of Papua New Guinea — a journey covering 1,975 nautical miles that takes nearly a week.

Completed in 2008, the 14,000-gt Gunung Dempo is Pelni’s newest ship and the last of 24 built for it by Germany’s Meyer Werft since the early 1980s.

Pelni’s previous ships were full passenger liners carrying up to 3,000 people in four classes, with token space for a handful of containers on the foredeck. But as a growing number of budget airlines siphon off passengers, especially those who used to travel first and second class, cargo has become an increasingly important source of revenue.

The Gunung Dempo was designed in response to this new reality. It is a hybrid ship capable of carrying 98 20ft containers, some breakbulk cargo and 1,500 passengers. Only 100 travel in first-class cabins.

First-class travel is a reasonably pleasant experience, although it has little in common with a luxury cruise. Cabins are comfortable and equipped to the standard of a modern ferry operating in Europe. There is a small dining room where stewards serve tasty Indonesian meals and a band plays at lunch and after dinner.

Economy class, however, could be regarded as an endurance test. Men, women and children sleep in mixed dormitories, which, although generally clean, are cramped and not particularly comfortable, especially since lights are left burning throughout the day and night. Meals, served in Styrofoam containers, are eaten on deck or beds.

When all economy-class berths are sold out on the busier legs, “unberthed economy” tickets can be issued. Holders camp out on deck or wherever else they can find a spot amid the bags of cabbages, onions and carrots.

All passengers have access to a small cinema where Indonesian horror films are regularly shown. There is a large mosque, an outdoor cafe and plenty of open deck space. Scattered throughout the ship are privately operated kiosks selling drinks, snacks and toiletries.

Most passengers join the ship for short periods. Numbers are light between major ports such as Tanjung Priok, Surabaya, Ambon and Makassar, which are well served by cheap flights, but passenger numbers quickly pick up as the ship ventures to remoter ports such as Sorong and Biak. Quite a few of them are local merchants and traders who carry big bags of produce to sell in markets ashore.

Pelni’s ships are robustly built and well maintained. Although the company requires hefty subsidies to underwrite its operating losses, its services are still regarded as vital in a part of the world where the lack of a safety culture among domestic ferry operators all too often makes sea travel downright dangerous.

A voyage on one of Pelni’s ships is an excellent way to travel with the friendly Indonesians to parts of their country that are otherwise difficult to access. It also provides an opportunity to experience a type of shipping that has vanished almost everywhere else.

 

17,508 islands, 25 ships

Pelni operates an extensive passenger network throughout the vast Indonesian archipelago using a fleet of 25 ships.

The largest passenger ships and main workhorses are the Kerinci class, 14 of which were built by Meyer Werft between 1983 and 2004. These vessels, of between 14,500-gt and 15,000-gt, can carry 2,000 to 3,000 passengers. Two of them were transferred to the Indonesian Navy for use as troop transports, while the first vessel, the Kerinci (built 1983), has been laid up awaiting disposal. As cargo becomes a more important source of revenue, others have been, or will be, converted into hybrid passenger/cargo/ro-ro vessels with a reduced passenger capacity.

Nine of a second Meyer Werft series, the 6,000-gt Kelimutu class, were built between 1986 and 1995. They carry up to 970 passengers on shorter secondary routes.

A third class, Pangrango, consists of three 2,650-gt ships that can carry 500 passengers on feeder routes to remote destinations. They were built by PT PAL shipyard in Indonesia, with Meyer Werft providing technical know-how.

The 14,000-gt Gunung Dempo was expected to be the first of a series of passenger/container ships that would replace older Kerinci-class vessels as they reached Pelni’s mandatory retirement age of 30 years. But so far no further orders have been placed, and none appear to be forthcoming.

Pelni has scaled back its ro-pax operations in recent years and now operates only one ro-pax ferry, the 4,900-gt Egon (built 1991). A couple more are laid up awaiting disposal.

The Ministry of Sea Transport is taking delivery of a series of 17 small coastal passenger/cargo ships ordered at several Indonesian yards. The ministry will outsource the operation of several of them to privately owned firms. The 800-gt and 2,000-gt vessels all bear the prefix Sabuk Nusantara and are designed to run feeder services to remote communities on distant islands and estuaries.