The First Largest Cruise Explorer Dream Stops by at Benoa Harbor

Denpasar, 10/17 (Atnews) – Explorer Dream with a length of 268 meters and a width of 32 meters is the first largest cruise ship docking at Benoa Harbor on Thursday (Oct. 17). With the weight of 75,338 GT, the cruise ship carried 1,856 passengers and first anchored at the Benoa Harbor Pier where previously the ship could only anchor outside the Benoa pier when visiting Bali.

After successfully revitalizing the Benoa Harbor channel and pond, it bore sweet fruit and now the cruise ships having a Length Overall (LOA) or length of more than 300 meters can dock safely at the Benoa Harbor.

Pelindo III as the harbor operator has completed dredging and deepening of the channel from minus 9 meters LWS (low water spring) to minus 12 meters LWS. Before dredging, the Benoa Harbor pier could only be docked by ships with a length of under 240 meters.

In addition, the turning basin or area to rotate for the ship is also widened so that ships with a longer turning radius can safely maneuver from 300 meters to 420 meters.

It was proven by two MV Insignia cruise ship with a weight of 30,277 GT and MV Azamara Quest with the same weight that anchored safely at the Benoa Harbor Pier last March.

This was revealed by Wayan Eka Saputra, CEO of Pelindo III for Regional BBN fully supported by the Head of the Second Class Harbor Management Office and Benoa Harbor Authority (KSOP) Agustinus Maun. The cooperation is to ensure that the ship rests safely in accordance with internationally accepted standards.

The ship specifically carries Asian market tourists, and in the future it is expected to come from Europe and America with the route of Singapore - Jakarta - Benoa - Darwin. With the development of the Benoa Harbor, of course it also contributes to the Balinese and national economy.

On that account, the Benoa Harbor and the Bali Tourism sector are an important part to support the government’s program to reach the target of 20 million tourists echoed by President Jokowi.

Benoa Harbor is targeting 75 cruise ship visits in 2019, and as of the beginning of this October, there have been 55 ships with a total of 1.4 million Gross Tonnage (GT), and a total of 29,755 tourists.

“We are optimistic that the visit target can exceed the minimum increase from 2018 where the total cruise ship visits in Benoa are 67 units,” he said.

The number of cruise ship passengers up to the third quarter of 2019 at a number of ports managed by Pelindo III already reached 118 ships or 4.4 million GT, reaching 76 percent of the target of 155 units. The total number of cruise ship passengers in the same period was recorded to reach 80,586 passengers.

To support cruise ship passenger visits predicted to rise after revitalization, Pelindo III has also improved supporting facilities including the construction of a passenger terminal building which was originally just having a capacity of 900 people and will further be enlarged to be able to accommodate 3,500 people in a 5,600-square meter building which today has begun to serve cruise ship passengers. Besides, there has been beautification of the harbor area with Balinese artistic touch as a tourist gateway through the sea.

This activity can attract other ships so that it can realize Bali as a ‘home port cruise.’ The impact is not only for Pelindo III, but also bringing wider positive impact to the Balinese community and the national economy.

Therefore, it needs full support from various parties ranging from the community, government agencies and tourism activists in Bali to achieve it, so that continuous synergy is needed. (ART)