Ministry of Transportation Prepares Two Ferry and Five Docks for Lake Toba

INDUSTRY.co.id - Toba - Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) is developing two Ferry and five docks to support community mobility as well as tourism in Lake Toba, North Sumatra.

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi in Muara Port, Danau Toba, North Tapanuli, North Sumatera Province, S (14/10/2017) said the ship and docks development will further support Lake Toba as a world tourism destination.

"Lake Toba is extraordinarily beautiful, so it must be supported by adequate infrastructure," he said.

Kemenhub, he added, will open Silangit Airport which is about 20 km from Lake Toba as an international airport on October 28, 2017.

Increasing the status of Silangit Airport will further make foreign tourists come to Lake Toba.

Budi continued at this time, already available three roro ships consisting of two from Kemenhub and one from PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry, which serves the crossing at Lake Toba.

"With the construction of two more, then there are five boats that are ready to serve the community including tourists," he said.

The two roro boats being built by Kemenhub are 48.5 meters long and 12.6 meters wide.

The vessel with a capacity of 300 gross tonnage (GT) is able to accommodate 280 passengers and 32 four-wheeled vehicles.

The ship procurement contract was signed in August 2017 with a construction completion schedule in November 2018.

"If the new vessel has been operated, then the departure schedule of the previous ship could be more than one hour to be only 15 minutes," said Minister of Transportation.

Meanwhile, from the construction of five docks, two of them are on Samosir Island and three others on the outskirts of Lake Toba.

"The addition of five ships and five dock facilities will facilitate connectivity of citizens and also tourists enjoy the beauty of Lake Toba is extraordinary," said Budi.