ASDP of Merak takes Across 62,000 Holiday Makers from Java

Merak, Banten (Antara) - The state owned ferry operator PT Angkutan Sungai Danau dan Penyeberangan (ASDP) of Merak has taken almost 62,100 people mostly Idul Fitri holiday makers across to Sumatra from Java. "Our estimate is that there are more passenger and the number will peak when the holiday makers return to Java in the fifth day or Saturday after Idul Fitri," Firdaus, a Merak port official, said here on Wednesday. On Wednesday , two days after Idul Fitri, the number of passengers from Merak heading for the port of Bakauheni, Lampung, is relatively normal and there is no more passengers jostling at the entrance, Firdaus said. Similarly, the number of passengers from Bakauheni landing in Merak is also normal, he said. The ASDP, however, operate a large number or 27 units of Ro-Ro ships to serve travelers across the Sunda Strait. "We have to continue to be ready for a surge in the number of passengers returning from Sumatra," he said Most or more than 80 percent of the passengers are ferried in their cars , motorcycles and in buses . In two days until Tuesday , there were 12,985 units of vehicles including 7,912 units of private cars, 4,849 units of motorcycles , 132 buses and 92 trucks ferried to from Merak to Bakauheni. (*)