Titus Zheng/08 April 2015.

Indonesia is seeking a new location for seaport construction after raising safety concerns for the existing Cilamaya Port project. 

The country's vice-president Jusuf Kalla cited that the original position for the Cilamaya Port project is "too close" to an oil and gas block operated by Pertamina Hulu Energi Offshore North West Java, a subsidiary of state-owned energy company Pertamina. 

"It will be dangerous to construct the seaport close to the (oil) block as there is a high likelihood that ships will hit oil and gas rigs," said Kalla. 

Thus, the Indonesian Ministry of National Development Planning has conducted a new study to determine the new location for the seaport, possibly to Subang or Indramayu in the eastern part of the island. The new port project will expect half of its funding from foreign investors. 

Initially, the development of Cilamaya Port was one of five flagship projects planned with co-operation from Japan, but the USD 2.6 billion port project has been hampered by a series of delay since 2010. The rationale for the port development project was to ease the congestion at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok Port which handles about two-thirds of Indonesia's international trade. 

Source: www.ihsmaritime360.com