4 Sea Lanes to Reach Mandalika Circuit

TheIndonesia.co - The Directorate General of Sea Transportation at the Transportation Ministry has prepared four sea lanes for the benefit of spectators arriving for the 2022 Moto Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia via the sea route.

The four sea lanes comprise the Surabaya (East Java)-Lembar (West Nusa Tenggara) route, Surabaya-Lembar-Waingapu (East Nusa Tenggara) route, Benoa (Bali)-Lembar-Bima (West Nusa Tenggara) route, and Tanjung Wangi (East Java)-Lembar route, acting director general of sea transportation at the ministry, Arif Toha, informed at an online press conference on Wednesday, February 16, 2022.

The ministry has constructed the new Gilimas Passenger Terminal – which is part of Lembar Port -- to anticipate a surge in sea passengers headed to the international racing event organized at the Mandalika Circuit, he said. The distance between the passenger terminal and the port is just 7 kilometers (km), and takes about 15 minutes to cover by land, he added.

 Meanwhile, the distance from the terminal to the circuit is about 50 km, he noted. It takes about one hour to cover, he added.

"The Gilimas Passenger Terminal was built to serve cruise ships from abroad and foreign tourists. Thus, the terminal capacity is larger – which is around 1,500 people," Toha said.

The Ministry of Transportation is also preparing to issue a ship operation plan (RPK) for Lembar Port, including two ferry units, two passenger ships, and two tourism boats, he informed.

In addition, the directorate general will provide supporting floating accommodation on two vessels belonging to national cargo and shipping company PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Pelni), he said.

The ships are Motor Vessel (MV) Kelud, with a capacity of 1,398 beds, and MV Sinabung, with a capacity of 1,898 beds, he said.

The Dharma Kencana ship owned by private company PT Dharma Lautan Utama with a capacity of 600 beds will also be prepared for spectators, he revealed.

“Thus, if needed by the 2022 MotoGP spectators, the supporting accommodation will be ready,” the director general stated.

Around 65 thousand spectators are expected to attend the international racing event.