Passenger Ship KM Dorolonda

Traveling by ship is one of my favorite ways to explore new places and towns in Indonesia. My trip to Bali from Manokwari started on Christmas day 2011. I went to Surabaya by passenger ship KM. Dorolonda. After arriving in the city, I would continue my trip by car to Bali island where at Ketapang Port of East Java, I had to cross the Bali strait by a ferry boat to Gilimanuk. My destination at that time was Ubud - the center of art and culture of the Balinese people. This vessel is operated by PELNI - a state owned passenger lines in Indonesia. The vessel was constructed in Germany at Jos Meyer shipyard. Indonesia as the largest archipelago needs a lot of ferries to transport people and goods from one island to another. That's why PELNI lines have ordered tens of passenger ships and ferries from Meyer Werft.
Even though all of the PELNI passenger ships are not considered as luxurious cruise ships, they have been equipped with advanced navigational system and GPS tracking system.

In Indonesia, millions of people travel by ships because it is cheap. Most of the modern passenger ferries and cruise ships are powered by diesel engines. In the past, steam turbines were the preferred choice because they were relatively calmer than marine diesel engines that produce more vibrations. With more improvements in the design of marine internal combustion engines, they become smaller but can deliver higher power.
My personal reason for traveling by ships is more on my educational background. I studied Naval Architecture in Pattimura University of Ambon city. I always want to study the interior of ships that I travel with. So, I took the opportunity of going to Surabaya with KM Dorolonda by taking a lot of pictures of this vessel. I also made a lot of pictures of traditional wooden boats, container ships and pontoons that I saw at every port that KM Dorolonda made as her ports of call.

Although more Indonesian people now prefer to travel by airplanes, there are more people in the country who still choose ships and boats as their preferred mode of transportation. More often the capacity of the ships is too small to accommodate thousands of people who use them. For instance, when I was traveling by this KM Dorolonda, I saw hundreds of people staying for a few nights at the outer decks of the vessel. I was really concerned about this situation because of safety concerns. As a naval architect, I know that as long as the waterline does not exceed the plimsoll mark, the ship is still safe enough to cross the ocean. However, PELNI as the operator of tens of ferries that carry thousands of passengers - often in over capacity condition, must give more attention on providing life saving equipment in the passenger ships. In addtion, the addition of surveillance cameras and security personnel in the vessels are a must to ensure that frequent criminality incidents can be stopped in the ships.  There are a lot of incidents in Indonesian passenger ships where passengers lost their belongings. Pickpocket is also a common criminal case that frequently occurs during the embarkation and de-embarkation of passengers in every port of Indonesia.
As a matter of fact, PELNI ships have got the potentials to be promoted as affordable transport vehicles for foreign tourists who want to travel around Indonesia in cheaper cost. This can only be realized if the ships are cleaned regularly and criminality during the sea voyage as well as during the loading and unloading of passengers at ports have been eliminated. by Charles Roring

Traveling by ship-what does it mean?

Ship is a vehicle that carries goods and people across the seas, oceans, rivers or canals. Ship and boat have been used by human since ancient time. Although most of inter-continental trips have been replaced by jet planes, there as still significant number of people who like to travel by ships especially the cruise ones. Cruise ships are similar to passenger ships in many aspects but offer more pleasure activities and round-trip itinerary which most passenger ships do not provide. So, what does it mean to travel by ship?

KM Doloronda

Longer trip duration
Because ship is slower than airplane, traveling by ship to certain destination will take longer time than by airplane. For example, for reaching Numfor island in the Geelvink bay of New Guinea, a ferry boat needs around 5 hours whereas a single propelled airplane needs only 20 minutes.
More Activities
To cater for the needs of passengers during a sea voyage from one harbor to another, operators of cruise ships have to build facilities and arrange activities that passengers can enjoy on board. Passengers will not feel bored because they can watch dolphins, sea scapes in the middle of the sea and watch latest movies or even swim and drink with other passengers.
More Goods and Passengers
The capacity of a big passenger ship or cruise ship can reach up to 5000 people or even more whereas the carrying capacity of the largest airplane is around 500 people. In other words, if we travel by ship, we will see more people on board and be able to carry more luggages. The largest cruise ships in the world such as the Oasis of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas can be considered as floating towns because inside the cruise ships we can find a lot of facilities that most small towns need to serve their inhabitants such as hospitals, recreational areas (cinemas, gaming, swimming pools, theatres, etc.), sport and fitness centers, shopping centers, restaurants and even libraries.
More Wastes and Threats to Marine Environment
Ships that carry large number of passengers will definitely produce more wastes both organic and inorganic. They have to be properly handled to prevent them from harming the environment especially the coral reefs that are homes to large number of marine animals. In addition to installing wastes processing machines on board cruise and passenger ships, the passengers have to be informed to not not throwing wastes into the sea. They must dispose their wastes in garbage bins that have been provided on every deck of the ships.
Safety of Life At Sea
I already said that a ship can carry thousands of people across deep sea. The weather at sea is always changing. Today's ship has been equipped with radars, GPS devices and telecommunication equipment that will help him traveling at sea to its desired destination. Big waves often cause a cruise ship to roll on tranverse direction. This makes a lot of people suffer from sea sick. To handle people with this temporary sickness, ship operator hire doctors or health works who will work in the clinic helping passengers dealing with their health problems.
Faster Ship with Better Stability
Naval architects now have been able to design ships and boats that can travel faster across the seas with improved stability. Innovations on the hull forms have led shipbuilding industry to twin hull boats called catamaran or three hulls (trimaran) or even pentamaran. Twin hull boat with small waterplane areas called swath is now seen as a great marine vehicle that can carry large number of passengers with relatively better stability than conventional monohul boat with the same passenger carrying capacity. by Charles Roring
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Traveling by passenger ship
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Passenger ship at Manokwari harbor

Passenger ship MV Nggapulu had just arrived at Manokwari harbor of Dore bay when I shot it with my telephoto digital camera - a Nikon Coolpix P500 from Rendani area which was on the opposite site of the bay. This ship is operated by PELNI Lines - a state owned passenger liner in Indonesia. It was built by Jos L. Meyer shipyard in Papenburg, Germany in 2001. According to the official website of PELNI lines, the passenger ship is able to carry 2130 passengers. However, in reality the number of people who travel with such ship is usually higher than the allowed figure.

PELNI, as the largest passenger ship liner in Indonesia, has tens of modern vessels like this that transport millions of people and goods to coastal towns and cities throughout the archipelago. Although, the motor vessels are fast, they are not cruise ships at all. As the largest archipelago in the world, Indonesia needs more ships to support its transportation and economic development.

In addition to being the port of call for PELNI passenger ships, the Dorey bay is often visited by sailing yachts that come from various corners of the world. There are 2 islands in front of the Dorey. They are Mansinam and Lemon. They protect the bay from big waves. Because Manokwari is close to Arfak mountains, tourists like to fly to this city before going to the mountains to watch birds of paradise and the bower bird. The coastal areas of Manokwari have beautiful coral reef that are good destinations for those who like snorkeling and swimming.  by Charles Roring
Also read: Passenger ship in Indonesia

Passenger ship in Indonesia

The transport of people and goods in Indonesia from one coastal town to another is mostly carried out by passenger ships and cargo ships. Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world with a population of around two hundred and twenty million people. Most of them live in coastal towns and villages that are scattered around more than seventeen thousand big and small islands. Passenger ships operated by PELNI - a state owned company still play significant roles as transport vessels for people and goods. In recent years, deregulation in air transportation system has given more market share for national airlines to operate in all corners of Indonesian archipelago. This new development clearly brings passenger ships in Indonesia into a new chapter of business competition.

Jet planes operated by a number of airlines in Indonesia greatly affect the market share of passenger ships in big coastal cities. However, the number of people who travel by ships is still high. To remain competitive in transporting people and goods, new passenger ships that are ordered by PELNI lines from German Shipyards have been experiencing new design approaches. Because most of the middle class clients choose airplanes to travel, the number of cabins for Class 1 to Class 4 have been reduced. PELNI as the major operator of passenger ships know that by increasing more compartments for economy class, the company can still make huge profit. In addition, in cooperation with Department of Transportation, PELNI extends its service to smaller but rapidly growing towns. The extension of the service needs the construction of new harbors or piers for PELNI ships whose capacity can reach up to 3,000 passengers per vessel. In addition, PELNI also offer car transport service for car owners who want to go to another town by using their own car.
During holiday times, PELNI's passenger ships often carry passengers more than their intended capacities, more life saving equipments have to be installed in the ship to minimize the number of casualties if there is accident at sea. We must remember that the RMS Titanic accident that sank in the Atlantic ocean must not happen again in this modern times.
When transatlantic passenger ships had long ceased from operation in late 1950s when jetplanes began to transport people between Europe and the New World, passenger ships in Indonesia was still at its first page of development. Now even though the whole Indonesia's air space has been filled with airplanes, passenger ships continue to serve people throughout this great maritime nation. by Charles Roring
Also read:

• Passenger Cargo Boat MV Yap Wairon
• Passenger ship in Geelvink bay

Passenger ship from Geelvink Bay

When I was going with Dr. Jaroslav Bacovsky and his friends from Czech republic from Manokwari city to Numfor island, I saw a fast passenger ship at the harbor. Her name is Fajar Indah. Her outside appearance may look like a luxurious cruise ship or yacht. It is totally different from Oasis of the Seas. As a matter of fact most of its compartments are for economic class. The ship goes from Manokwari to Wasior, Serui, Biak, and Nabire. These are small coastal towns in the Geelvink bay of New Guinea island. The passenger ship Fajar Indah II has got three decks allocated for people. I did not go into the ship to see the interior of the vessel but from the outside appearance, I could tell that this ship can carry hundreds of people on board. I walked closer to the ship to see the passenger compartments from her windows. The vessel has rows of economy class beds that are arranged in rows from the front to the back area of the hull.

Because she is a fast ship, she has a slim hull meaning that her block coefficient is small. In addition to smaller block coefficient, when I check the thickness of the shell of her upper hull, I found out that it was only around 10 milimeters or perhaps less. Shipbuilders tend to build fast ships whose hulls are constructed of aluminum materials. Because aluminum is more expensive than stainless still, the price of such vessel will be more expensive. So, it is not surprising to see that the ticket price of this passenger ship is four times higher than her competitor KMP Kasuari Pasifik IV - a ferry boat that travels from Manokwari to Numfor and Biak.
The waters along the northern coast of West Papua are also served by modern passenger ships operated by PELNI, a state owned passenger lines company. Ships such as MV. Dobonsolo and KM Nggapulu that were built by German shipyard. The existance of these big ships do not threaten the market share of small passenger ships that operate in the Geelvink bay of West Papua. Passenger vessels such as Fajar Indah II, KMP Kasuari Pasifik IV and KM Papua Baru have different port of calls that cannot be entered by Pelni ships.
The passenger ships in Geelvink bay of West Papua may be much smaller than RMS Titanic but their functions as important major links that connect towns and villages in the area cannot be ignored. We have to ensure that the safety of passengers is properly addressed and sea accident such as what the Titanic experienced in the Atlantic Ocean must not happen again in the Papuan waters. 
In recent years, smaller airlines operated by Susi Air have entered small towns in coastal and mountainous region of West Papua. Because the carrying capacity of the airplanes is small, i.e. less than 15 passengers, they do not pose serious threat to the economic survivability of these passenger vessels. Charles Roring
Also read
Passenger ship Yap Wairon
Oasis of the Seas