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View all search resultsDrivers demand more piers at Ketapang-Gilimanuk ferry crossing after extreme traffic jam
Currently there are seven piers on each side of the crossing but more piers are needed to ease traffic to and from Bali, especially large trucks.
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An aerial photo shows trucks waiting for their turn to board ferries at Bulusan Port in Banyuwangi, East Java, on July 25, 2025. To ease congestion caused by heavy vehicles, state-owned ferry operator PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry added an additional vessel to carry trucks to Gilimanuk Port in Bali. (Antara/Budi Candra Setya)
L
ong lines and traffic jams have paralyzed the Ketapang-Gilimanuk ferry crossing in the past week, emphasizing the need for new piers at the main gateway linking East Java with Bali.
The queue of vehicles intending to cross from Banyuwangi, East Java, to Gilimanuk, Bali, reached 16 kilometers on Sept. 3 before it eased up on Tuesday.
The National River, Lake and Crossing Ferry Operators’ Association’s (Gapasdap) head of business and tariffs, Rahmatika, said increasing the number of piers was the only permanent solution.
“Currently there are 56 ferries but only 28 vessels are operational every day,” he said in Surabaya on Tuesday.
“During the congestion, there were only 23 to 24 ships operational.”
He said that it would be useless to increase the number of ships without adding more piers.
Currently, on both sides of the ferry crossing there are seven piers, consisting of four movable bridges (MBs) and three landing craft machines (LCMs). All the piers handle between 10,000 and 15,000 vehicles every day. The figure can easily double during the Idul Fitri and Christmas and New Year holiday seasons.
