Pelni

Passenger ships

Pelni's passenger ships are also a major branding feature of Pelni: large yellow funnel with red-and-white strips and Pelni logo.[11] Pelni painted its ships with white color on the upper side of ships and crimson on the lower side. Its reddish lifeboats are also easily recognised from distances.

Most of these passenger ships (excluding KM Egon, KM Ganda Dewata & KFC Jetliner) were built by Meyer Werft, a major German shipyard well known as luxury passenger ships builder.[12] Due to this, some considered Pelni's ships 'too good' by Indonesian standards, even after designed & built as economy-class passenger ships by default.[13] As of 12 August 2017, no Meyer-built Pelni ship has ever sunk. However, these high-standard ships were not enjoyed by passengers, especially prior to 2014, because of harsh treatment by passengers and the crew itself. Most of the problems come from illegal passengers, which at least until 24 April 2019 are still frequently found.[14]Since 2014 onwards, some improvements have been made. Online booking was made available, but still limited to payment via Bank Rakyat Indonesia's ATM and Indomaret store. Credit card payment is still not possible. Toilet facilities were improved, and 2-pin electric sockets were installed. GSM & GPRS networks on Pelni ships are provided by telkomsel. However, passenger management is still troublesome, mainly because most of Indonesian seaport's passenger terminals (operated by Indonesia Port Corporations) are not sterile from illegal visitors.[15] Below is a list of Pelni's Passenger Ships. All of these ships (excluding KFC Jetliner) were named after mountains in Indonesia. KM Tatamailau however, is named after Mt. Tatamailau in East Timor. km is an abbreviation of 'Kapal Mesin', meaning Motor Vessel (MV) and KFC is an abbreviation of 'Kapal Ferry Cepat', meaning Fast Ferry Ship.

Current Ships(as of January 2025)

Facilities

• One single bed per passenger, but shared space with others and no barriers between beds.
• 2-pin electric plugs per bed (low voltage, for mobile phones only)
• Shared bathrooms & toilets with hot and cold water
• Three standard meals a day
• Hot water for making drinks
• Musalla
• Cafeteria
• Shop
• Smoking area
• GSM and GPRS network by Telkomsel
• Clinic

Facilities (KM Kelud only)

KM Kelud (serving Jakarta-Batam-Tanjung Balai Karimun-Medan) is the ship with most complete facilities: KM Kelud also provides first- and 2nd-class service in addition to economy-class services, with double bedroom and four single-bedroom options, with television and better food menus.

However, not all of those facilities are always available. Some passengers wrote that access to some of those, such as mini-cinema and gym were blocked by the crew.[20] Some facilities, especially the toilets, are in poor condition.[21] The ships are also often overcrowded by illegal passengers, especially after embarking from smaller ports where security is lax.[22]

• Restaurant
• Wi-Fi (paid)
• Mini cinema
• Alfamart and Pelnimart store
• Gym
• Live music

Tourism services

In addition to regular passenger routes, Pelni provides tourism packages to various islands. Pelni introduces live-on-board concept, where Pelni ships will pick up passengers in hub ports (such as Semarang or Sorong), sail to destined tourist attraction, stay there as 'floating hotel' while passengers enjoying the tourism packages in nearby islands, and then return to hub port. For 2017, the tourism packages are:[23]

On 23 June 2019, Pelni launched a new tourism service with KLM (Kapal Layar Mesin/Motor Sail Ship) Pelita Arunika, a pinisi ship. Built by a traditional shipbuilder in Tanjung Bira, South Sulawesi, it serves tourists in Labuan Bajo.[24]

• Karimunjava Islands (depart from Semarang)
• Raja Ampat Islands (from Sorong)
• Derawan Islands (from Balikpapan)
• Wakatobi National Park (from Baubau)
• Komodo National Park (from Labuan Bajo)
• Banda Neira (from Ambon)

Cargo ships

Source:[25]

• KM Caraka Jaya Niaga III-4
• KM Caraka Jaya Niaga III-2
• KM Caraka Jaya Niaga III-32
• KM Logistik Nusantara 1
• KM Logistik Nusantara 2
• KM Logistik Nusantara 3
• KM Logistik Nusantara 4
• KM Logistik Nusantara 5

Other ships

Tol Laut ships

Tol Laut (literally "Sea Toll (Road)" or "Sea Highway") is a maritime program by President Joko Widodo to improve the Indonesian logistic system through providing routine and subsidized cargo sailing across Indonesia. As of 2019, Pelni operated 7 cargo ships for this purpose.[25][26]

Cattle ship

Pelni operated one cattle ship, KM Camara Nusantara I, to transport cattle produced by farmers in Lesser Sunda Islands to Java.[26][27]

Perintis ships

Source:[25]

Perintis (pioneer) services are routes served by smaller ships (below 500 passengers) connecting smaller islands to regional cities. these services are subsidized by the Government of Indonesia. It is intended to increase accessibility and decrease logistic cost among small islands. These routes are less regular than those served by the main passenger ships, thus online ticket booking is not available. Tickets can be bought at the port of departure or its nearest branch offices. Perintis schedules can also be accessed through Pelni call center and social media upon request.[28] As of 2019, Pelni owned and operated 53 perintis ships, serving 46 routes.[25]

International routes

During the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, Pelni served the port of Dili,[29] which stopped after 1999. In 2000, Pelni also served the Bitung-Davao (Philippines) route for a short period.[30]