Dangerous Goods Transportations in Inland Waterways A Case Study for Indonesia Waterways

Abstract

In archipelagic countries, like Indonesia, RoPax ferry service will be a catalyst for the growth of the area because low transportation costs will increase the competitiveness of the area so that exports and imports from the area will increase. However, accidents involving domestic RoPax ferries in Indonesia have resulted in catastrophic consequences of loss of life and damage to property. One of the causes of accidents in RoPax ferries that has resulted in catastrophic consequence is the mishandling of dangerous goods. By its nature, transportation of dangerous goods by domestic ferry can be considered as one of the most dangerous maritime transport forms because a single accident involving a domestic RoPax ferry that carries dangerous goods and passengers at the same time, can cause both environmental catastrophe and severe human casualties. This research, describes the handling process of vehicles with dangerous goods in Merak Port, Ketapang Port and Bajoe’ Port in Indonesia. Through this research, it was found that Ketapang Port and Merak Port have procedures for handling dangerous goods developed based on technical guidance from PT. ASDP Indonesia Ferry. However, many violations are committed by officers in the field during the implementation of these procedures. In addition, the limited facilities owned by the ferry port and RoPax ferry, have made it difficult to implement the existing procedures, especially to fulfil the segregation procedure for vehicles carrying dangerous goods.