In 2023, the Benoa branch of PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) recorded hosted port calls by 48 cruise ships carrying 78,214 passengers, mainly comprised of foreign nationals from Europe, the USA, and Australia.
As reported by Beritabali.com, Siti Juarirah, the spokesperson for the Sub-regional Nusa Bali Office of Pelindo, said on Thursday, 18 January 2024, that the Denpasar City Government and Pelindo have signed a cooperative agreement on the joint utilization of the Benoa Port that will facilitate a 500% increase in traffic when compared to 2022 (during the COVID-19 pandemic) when only 13,941 passengers traveled through the Island’s southernmost port.
Cruise ship visits increased steadily in 2023, with most ships coming to Bali during the January-April and October-December periods – the traditional high seasons for the Indonesian archipelago’s cruise ship visits.
Siti Juarirah projects 120,980 cruise ship passengers visiting Bali in 2024, with larger ships and more frequent ship calls scheduled by many major cruise operators.
To facilitate the growing number of cruise ship visits to the Port of Benoa, Pelindo continues to enhance facilities and cruise ship services that include additional passenger gangways, continual dredging of cruise ship channels and the harbor basin, and improved systems for the disembarkation and embarkation of luggage and passengers,
Benoa aims to become a “turnaround port” for large cruise ships as part of an overall desire to establish Bali as a regional cruise hub.
Pelindo has an established record of efficiently handling ship turnarounds for vessels carrying 2,000 passengers.
Related Links
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