Indonesia is the country where I first time experience real sea Voyage in a really big ship . In Indonesia mainly Pelni and ASDP performs passenger ferry service . Pelni is the biggest ship company in Indonesia . This ships have 7-8 decks (this decks are like floor in the building ) .
In Indonesia for every big city , there is a sea port . Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world , having more than 17000 island . For making connection among them , Ship is one of the main transport system . Tanjung pirok in Jakarta , sunda kelapa in Jakarta , port of Belawan in Medan , pelabuhan makassar , balikpapan port in east kalimanthan , port of Kupang in Timor , port of jaypura in papua and benoa port in bali are some of the biggest port in Indonesia . From here lots of ships voyage for different bigger and smaller islands . Sometimes this journey takes not only a day but a week .
Lengthwise Indonesia is spread more than 5000 km from the tip in Ache in Sumatra(which is near to the andaman and nicobar island of India ) to the Papua (this is near to the Australia ) . It has four timezone from GMT +6:00 in Ache to GMT + 9:00 . Papua new Guinea is in the timezone GMT + 9 .
How to book ticket in Ship ?
There is mainly two ship company Pelni and ASDP . Both this companies are government company but services are very different . For inter provinces journey Pelni is must and ASDP are mainly concentrated in the intra province journey which are mainly done within a day .
Pelni tickets can be booked in the website www,pelni.co.id . This website has both english and Indonesian version . You can choose accordingly but in this website , booking can only be done for the Indonesian passengers .
First , foreign bank cards were not accepted for this booking and second you have to show Vaccination card for this booking that is not possible in the online booking as your passport is not synchronized with PeduliLindungi app . Indonesian people’s national ID card is synchronized with the PeduliLindungi app (Which is the contact tracing app in Indonesia for the Covid ).
So you have to reach to the Pelni office . There you have show your vaccination certificate to the counter . I must say that Pelni counter people are friendly and they will help you any possible manner .
First they will check your passport then your vaccination certificate . They will also ask you to link your vaccine certificate in the PeduliLindungi app . After finishing all they will ask you to pay and this must be done in the cashless manner . After payment they will issue a ticket which you have to change to a boarding pass in the sea port .
ASDP :
ASDP is an another ship company which is mainly used for intra province voyage and mainly runs in small distance . For ASDP , tickets are issed just befor boarding and here you have to pay through same cashless manner and you have to buy any of the two Indonesian Bank card where some money were reserved for that card . I have brought a BRAZZI card which is also valid in the public transportation system in Indonesia .
I must say that attitude of ASDP boat is very casual . There is no sleeping deck so , you have to complete the journey by seating only . In ASDP , main entrance is covered with the lots of vehicle so boarding to this Ship is very difficult and also leaving . I just make one journey from Kupang to Aimere . I really suffered in this journey .
How to board to the Ship ?
Boarding to the ship contains two step
- First you reach to the sea port with the ticket and ID card . In my case it was Passport . Then they will check your ticket and generate the boarding pass .
- Now you can enter the terminal building and wait when the boarding will start for the ship .
- Befor boarding to the ship there will be announcement and then you have to show your boarding pass and board to the ship . By temporary stairs you board in the ship .
Experience in Sea Voyage
Among the transport system I have used , Pelni ship journey is most comfortable . If you are in Pelni ship you may enjoy open deck like this from where you can have beautiful morning Sunrise and evening sunset . This is really rewarding for those people like me who never make open sea voyage . From this place you can enjoy endless sky and sea . You can see , in the horizon this sky meets sea .
My biggest journey was from Makassar to kupang where I spend two days and two night in the same ship . In this journey sometimes this ship docks in some stpping port . This will dock in the port for 2-3 hours . where different goods are loaded and unloaded from the ships .
Where porter runs inside the ship :
This is an another type of experience when you see some rackless , well musseled men jumped into the ship . They are the porter of that stopping port . They have some specific dress code . They waited in the port for hours and when a ship comes their activity reached in the top grade . This is the time for their earning so they anxiously try to fulfill as much order as they can do . In this time you have to give them side first as otherwise they will collide with you . They will help you to transport your luggage . In the ship , mostly passengers board with lots of luggage and sometimes rice and different food items are transported from one island to another . As the doors of the ship are in very high and you have to get down from there by portable stairs so , you must require a porters for unloading the luggage . .
Food :
One of the major difference among the Pelni ship and the ASDP ship is that , pelni offers both free and paid pantry service in the ship where as ASDP offers only paid service .
For budget travelers like me this service is really helpful . They offer three times food on board . Food are very simple but good for the sea journey as some people may suffer from the sea sickness . Before they serve the meal an announcement was done. This announcement was done in Indonesian Language and after that you can see people are queuing before the pantry . After that they will scan your boarding pass and give you meal .
Rice is common in every meal and they put chicken , fish and egg alternatively three times in a day . Krupuk(indonesian snacks) and mineral water are common in every meal . Sometimes they add chocolate or fruit juice with it .
Deck inside the Ship :
There is two types of deck in the pelni ships
The first one is the economy deck . I booked ticket in this type of deck . Here they will provide a bed . In this ship most of the decks are economy . Before booking the seat if it possible try to book upper Decks as lower decks were more hot and uncomfortable . I have to say there is no privacy and bed to the next person is just beside me and there is no gap . There is a luggage storage space just above your head and a power socket . You may feel little difficult in the night when sleeping as lights were not switched off during the night .
In every deck , there is a shared toilet for both men and woman . In some ship there is a children’s playing area . There is also some special pantry which are paid services . After sometimes some hawkers come inside this economy deck for selling items . Also inside the Ship there is facility for hot water to make instant noodles .
Summary :-
Being the largest archipelago in the world , Indonesia must have strong water transport system like Pelni and ASDP . For every major city beside the sea have sea port and the cities are connected by this ships . Sometimes the ship journey can be as long as a week . This ships are very big , mostly multi floor . For boarding this ships you must have two dosage of covid vaccine and have to reach pelni office to book a ticket . foreigners can not book through online systems as vaccine verification can not be possible . Three times food will be served inside the ship . For every passenger there is a specific bed . Upper decks were most relaxing in the whole ship .
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