Pelni (abbreviation of , ) is the national cargo and passenger shipping company of Indonesia. Its services network spans across the Indonesian archipelago. Mainly serving as connector between bigger cities and to remote islands, Pelni plays an important role in the Indonesian transport system.
Pelni is one of the few remaining economy-class long-distance passenger ship operators. Most of the world's well-known passenger ship companies have stopped their low-budget passenger services since the 1960s due to shifting trends towards air transport. Pelni's ability to survive is mostly due to monopolies on certain routes and government of Indonesia subsidies.
History
Under the Dutch colonial rule, Indonesian inter-islands transportation was dominated by Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (KPM), founded in 1888. KPM headquarter was in Amsterdam, but daily operations were controlled from Batavia, Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta).
As a newly independent republic in the late 1940s, Indonesian government decided to nationalize Dutch-owned companies. The Dutch refused to give away KPM, due to its strong position as a connector of the Indonesian archipelago. KPM also played an important role in transporting Dutch logistics and military supplies during the Indonesian National Revolution.
In response to Dutch refusal, on 5 September 1950, Indonesia founded PEPUSKA (Yayasan Penguasaan Pusat Kapal-kapal, Centrally-controlled Ships Foundation) that operates eight ships with a total size of 4.800 Deadweight tonnage. However, due to a lack of experience and capital, PEPUSKA failed to take over KPM's monopoly.
On 28 April 1952, PEPUSKA was dissolved. Pelni (now as a company, not a foundation) was founded on the same day, with the same fleet. To bring more power, Indonesian Eximbank provided funding to buy 45 new coaster ships from western European countries. While waiting for these new ships to be produced, Pelni rented various ships from many countries across the world. Pelni also used ships looted from Japan in World War 2. These strategies proved successful, as KPM suffered from declining market share and strike workers led by Sukarno's leftist doctrine. KPM discontinued its Indonesian operation on 3 December 1957.
Pelni achieved its golden era during the early 1980s to late 1990s. Under Suharto’s presidency with his Transmigration program, Pelni was the main transport to move people from Java and Sumatra to eastern regions of Indonesia, because air transport facilities were still underdeveloped.
Pelni started to suffer in the 2000s, as air travel became cheaper. Some of its old ships even failed to sell to third parties, and maintaining these ships was expensive. KM Kambuna (renamed ) and KM Rinjani (renamed KRI Tanjung Fatagar (974)) was granted to the Indonesian Navy in 2004. KM Kerinci was sold in 2014. KFC Jetliner was rented to the Sri Lankan Navy between 2009 and 2012. As of 2017, no party is interested to buy KM Ganda Dewata (Ro-ro ship) even as scrap.
Pelni started to reform its services and management since 2012, by focusing more on tourism and cargo market, alongside improving its current low-budget passenger services. Pelni began to book positive earnings since 2014.
Ships and services
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. 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.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Due to this, some considered Pelni's ships 'too good' by Indonesian standards, even after designed & built as economy-class passenger ships by default. 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.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. 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) +Ship nameTonnageBuild datePassenger capacityRoute (as of January 2025)KM Awu6,022 GT1991969route A: Kumai (Panglima Utar Port) → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Denpasar (Benoa Port) → Bima → Waingapu → Ende (IPPI Port) → Kupang (Tenau Port) → Kalabahi (round-trip)
route B: Kumai (Panglima Utar Port) → Semarang (Tanjung Emas Port) (round-trip)KM Binaya6,022 GT19941000route A: Denpasar (Benoa Port) → Bima → Labuan Bajo → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Awerange → Bontang (Lok Tuan Port) → Pare-Pare (Nusantara Port) (round-trip)
route B: Denpasar (Benoa Port) → Bima → Waingapu → Ende (IPPI Port) → Kupang (Tenau Port) (round-trip)KM Bukit Raya6,022 GT1994970 Jakarta (Tanjung Priok Port) → Belinyu (Tanjung Gudang Port) → Kijang (Sri Bayintan Port) → Letung → Tarempa → Natuna (Selat Lampa Port) → Midai → Serasan (Tanjung Setelung Port) → Pontianak (Dwikora Port) → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) (round-trip)KM Bukit Siguntang19952003route A: Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Maumere (Laurentius Say Port) → Lewoleba → Kupang (Tenau Port) (round-trip)
route B: Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Pare-Pare (Nusantara Port) → Balikpapan (Semayang Port) → Tarakan (Malundung Port) → Nunukan (Tunon Taka Port) → Balikpapan (Semayang Port) → Pare-Pare (Nusantara Port) → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port)KM Ciremai19911973Jakarta (Tanjung Priok Port) → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Bau-Bau (Murhum Port) → Ambon (Yos Soedarso Port) → Sorong → Serui → Jayapura (round-trip) Often Manokwari, Biak and Namlea are added to the route.KM Dobonsolo19931974route A: Jakarta (Tanjung Priok Port) → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Bau-Bau (Murhum Port) → Sorong → Manokwari → Biak → Jayapura (round-trip)
route B: Jakarta (Tanjung Priok Port) → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Bau-Bau (Murhum Port) → Sorong → Manokwari (round-trip)KM Dorolonda20012130route A: Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Balikpapan (Semayang Port) → Pantoloan → Bitung → Ternate (Ahmad Yani Port) → Sorong → Manokwari → Nabire (Samabusa Port) → Jayapura (round-trip)
route B: Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Bau-Bau (Murhum Port) → Namlea → Ambon (Yos Soedarso Port) → Sorong → Manokwari → Nabire (Samabusa Port) → Waren → Jayapura (round-trip)KM Egon4,914 GT1991520Waingapu → Lembar → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Batulicin (Samudra Port) → Pare-Pare (Nusantara Port) → Bontang (Lok Tuan Port) (round-trip)KM Gunung Dempo20061583Jakarta (Tanjung Priok Port) → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Sorong → Manokwari → Wasior → Nabire (Samabusa Port) → Jayapura (round-trip)KM Kelimutu1985920route A: Jakarta (Tanjung Priok Port) → Belitung (Tanjung Pandan Port) → Pontianak (Dwikora Port) → Semarang (Tanjung Emas Port) → Kumai (Panglima Utar Port) (round-trip)
route B: Jakarta (Tanjung Priok Port) → Belitung (Tanjung Pandan Port) → Pontianak (Dwikora Port) → Semarang (Tanjung Emas Port) → Kumai (Panglima Utar Port) → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Batulicin (Samudra Port) (round-trip)KM Kelud14,665 GT19981906Jakarta (Tanjung Priok Port) → Batam (Batu Ampar Port) → Tanjung Balai Karimun → Medan (Belawan Port) (round-trip)KM Lawit1986920route A: Kumai (Panglima Utar Port) → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Sampit → Semarang (Tanjung Emas Port) → Karimun Jawa (Legon Bajak Port) → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Kumai (Panglima Utar Port) (round-trip)
route B: Kumai (Panglima Utar Port) → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Denpasar (Benoa Port) → Bima → Waingapu → Ende (IPPI Port) → Kalabahi → Kupang (Tenau Port) → Rote (round-trip)KM Leuser1994970Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Denpasar (Benoa Port) → Bima → Labuan Bajo → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Bau-Bau (Murhum Port) → Wanci (Panggulubelo Port) → Namrole → Ambon (Yos Soedarso Port) → Saumlaki → Tual → Dobo → Timika (Pomako Port) → Agats → Merauke (round-trip)KM Lambelu19962003Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Pare-Pare (Nusantara Port) → Balikpapan (Semayang Port) → Tarakan (Malundung Port) → Nunukan (Tunon Taka Port) → Pantoloan → Balikpapan (Semayang Port) → Pare-Pare (Nusantara Port) → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Bau-Bau (Murhum Port) → Maumere (Laurentius Say Port) → Larantuka → Bau-Bau (Murhum Port) → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Pare-Pare (Nusantara Port) → Balikpapan (Semayang Port) → Pantoloan → Tarakan (Malundung Port) → Nunukan (Tunon Taka Port) → Balikpapan (Semayang Port) → Pare-Pare (Nusantara Port) → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port)KM Labobar20043084Jakarta (Tanjung Priok Port) → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Bau-Bau (Murhum Port) → Ambon (Yos Soedarso Port) → Banda Neira → Tual → Dobo → Kaimana → Fak-Fak (round-trip)KM Nggapulu20012130Jakarta (Tanjung Priok Port) → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Bau-Bau (Murhum Port) → Namlea → Ambon (Yos Soedarso Port) → Ternate (Ahmad Yani Port) → Jailolo → Bitung (round-trip)KM Pangrango1996496route A: Ambon (Yos Soedarso Port) → Banda Neira (round-trip)
route B: Ambon (Yos Soedarso Port) → Namrole (round-trip)
route C: Ambon (Yos Soedarso Port) → Banda Neira → Saumlaki (round-trip)KM Sirimau1991969Sorong → Ambon (Yos Soedarso Port) → Wanci (Panggulubelo Port) → Bau-Bau (Murhum Port) → Maumere (Laurentius Say Port) → Lewoleba → Kupang (Tenau Port) → Kalabahi → Saumlaki → Tual → Dobo → Timika (Pomako Port) → Agats → Merauke (round-trip)KM Sinabung19971906Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Bau-Bau (Murhum Port) → Banggai → Bitung → Ternate (Ahmad Yani Port) → Bacan → Sorong → Manokwari → Biak → Jayapura (round-trip)KM Sangiang1997510Bitung → Ternate (Ahmad Yani Port) → Bacan → Sanana → Namlea → Ambon (Yos Soedarso Port) → Banda Neira → Geser → Fak-Fak (round-trip)KM Tilongkabila1994970Denpasar (Benoa Port) → Lembar (Gili Mas Port) → Bima → Labuan Bajo → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Bau-Bau (Murhum Port) → Raha → Kendari (Bungkutoko Port) → Luwuk → Gorontalo → Bitung (round-trip)KM Tatamailau1990969route A: Bitung → Tidore (Trikora Port) → Sorong → Fak-Fak → Kaimana → Tual → Timika (Pomako Port) → Agats → Merauke (round-trip)
route B: Bitung → Ternate (Ahmad Yani Port) → Ambon (Yos Soedarso Port) → Tual → Dobo → Timika (Pomako Port) → Agats → Merauke (round-trip)KM Tidar19871904Kijang (Sri Bayintan Port) → Jakarta (Tanjung Priok Port) → Surabaya (Tanjung Perak Port) → Makassar (Soekarno Hatta Port) → Bau-Bau (Murhum Port) → Maumere (Laurentius Say Port) → Larantuka → Lewoleba → Kupang (Tenau Port) (round-trip)KM Umsini19851737Route 1 : Jakarta > Surabaya > Makassar > Maumere > Larantuka > Lewoleba > Kupang > Ende