As some may already know, our friend Mr Lim from Cakra shipping has had his boat impounded by Indonesian customs, and according to his last email (21/10/15) he may not get it back for some months.

This put a spanner in the works for me as I was about to ship Medan to Penang with him, so i've found an alternative.

There is a high speed passenger ferry from Tanjung Balai (~150km east of Medan) to Port Klang every day, which will also take a motorbike for a fee.

The company is called Jetstar Atlantic, look them up with google maps in Tanjung Balai, the address is correct. They will most likely pass you onto a shipping agent called Mr Ade ph +6281362274003 who is well connected with the harbour, customs and immigration, so carnet stamping and passports etc was really easy.

Mr Ade quoted me 3 million rupiah (AUD$300) for two people and one bike (note that the passenger tickets are actually only RM15), but on the day we loaded he asked for another 1 million rupiah for loading and unloading. Eventually we settled on an extra 0.5 million rupiah for the port fees on both ends, we shook hands and the boat sailed. 4 hours later we arrived in Port Klang and were unloaded.

The loading and unloading is not for the faint hearted, it's all done manually over the pier, sometimes across a sizable gap to the bow of the boat. 6 people to lift a KTM 950 is just barely enough...

Anyway, once in Malaysia, we were of course asked for another RM150, no option to negotiate that one.

So I swore a little, paid up and rode away.

If anyone is going to follow our path, I'd suggest refusing to pay anything for loading (or something less than $25) as i feel like Mr Ade is already making quite a lot on the deal, but you'll have to pay the fee on the malay side, just get an invoice for it.

You could also try to do the lot on your own and no doubt save a lot of money. Customs is just past the port in Tanjung Balai (see below), and the guys there were friendly and familiar with the carnet. On the malay side it's really straight forward.

I was annoyed that Ade promised me that he'd pay the charges in Malaysia, so if you're offered the same thing dont believe it. In Malaysia the customs guys told me that several people arriving from indonesia were told this, but it's not correct.

Any other questions just message me, it was a simple enough crossing, and nice to travel with the bike, but bring some rope or tiedowns if you have them as the rope they used was pretty lightweight.

There is a boat every day, and as i understand it there is one big boat, and one small one, we got onto the small boat, but it could only carry one bike so if you're a group ask which boat is going on the day you want to ship, or you may have to wait a day in Tanjung Balai (not the nicest town).

Also, Jetstar Atlantic have a hotel of sorts above their offices, small dirty rooms, but for $3 a night you cant complain too much.

Some GPS coords for you...

Customs in Tanjung Balai (the ferry terminal is across the road, 50m away)
N 02.99929 E 099.81701
Ferry Company Tanjung Balai
N 02.96360 E 099.80212

Ferry Terminal (including customs and immigration) in Port Klang
N 02.99970 E 101.39095

There's some pics on our blog if you want to see the boat and tie down arrangement.

dinosal.com | dream explore discover

Thanks for this info. Would be great if there were a simple ro-ro ferry between Malaysia and Indonesia but at least this sounds like a workable solution.

Hope the ongoing haze situation isn't too bad for riding and if you need any KL info, give me a shout.

__________________
Mike


www.singapore-scotland.blogspot.com
www.argentina-alaska.blogspot.com
My little Vid: India/Pakistan

BMW R1150GS
Suzuki DR650 SE: Ride it like ya stole it. Oh, somebody just did...

Thanks for the brilliant write up. Mr. Lims boat is still impounded (29/11/2015) We will give this a shot late December from Indonesia to Malaysia.

Will keep everyone posted.

__________________
on the road NZ to GER - check our blog @ www.charowo.net

In Malaysia getting bored, rode from Switzerland to KL, thinking of jumping on that ferry... If I do I'll let you know, in the mean time would love to hear reports...

Hey, if you're bored, will be meeting a few travellers tomorrow night in Sids Handlebar, just off Jalan Maarof in Bangsar (less than 5 min walk from the LRT). Welcome to join if you are free

just google location of American Chopper as its next door to the bar

__________________
Mike


www.singapore-scotland.blogspot.com
www.argentina-alaska.blogspot.com
My little Vid: India/Pakistan

BMW R1150GS
Suzuki DR650 SE: Ride it like ya stole it. Oh, somebody just did...

Hello Max and Mike

I,m currently in Port Klang and are about to Meet Mr One dollar from Aseantex about shipping across too Indonesian.
Also just visited Aerospeed and their 1535 ringgit fee.
hope to find use tonight at the bar , just booked into a hostel online in KL.

Got a time?

Regards Bryn

Cool, i'll probably head along there around 7pm, hopefully see you there

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

__________________
Mike


www.singapore-scotland.blogspot.com
www.argentina-alaska.blogspot.com
My little Vid: India/Pakistan

BMW R1150GS
Suzuki DR650 SE: Ride it like ya stole it. Oh, somebody just did...

Hey,

Has anyone made the crossing last few days or have any more information? In Thailand now, heading down to Malaysia to cross over hopefully mid-end December. 2 people, 2 bikes.

Lim from Akra says their boat is still impounded (03/12/15) But passed on your message Dean re: Jetstar Atlantic so thanks for that!

Any or all information would be great! Sounds like it's a better option to plan a little and get a price locked in before arriving into Indo.

If anyone has travelled across to East Timor as well I'd love some information on route and ferries along the way as well!

Hope you're all well,
Thanks
Luke

This guy has pretty much nailed it when it comes to information about ferries and ports in Indonesia:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...682#post489338

I "crossed" Indonesia june to september this year and can add a tiny bit more from my memory:

Sumatra - Java: Ferries all the time, 2-3 hour crossing.
Java - Bali: Ferries all the time, 1-2 hour crossing.
Bali - Lombok: Ferries quite often, also at night, 4-5 hour crossing.
Lombok - Sumbawa: Ferries relatively often. Around 100 kms from the ferry port to ride to the first place with accomodation. Crossing took around 3 hours.

Sumbawa - Flores: Two ferries a day, one 9 am and one 4 pm. Crossing took almost 7 hours. The 9 am ferry was full even though I was at the port 8 am. The 4 pm ferry left 6 pm. At this point in Indonesia things are getting a bit uncertain about schedules and information. There are several hotels and guesthouses in the little port town on the Sumbawa side.

Flores - Timor: At this stage information and schedules seemed quite blurry.
There seems to be ferries from at least 3 different places on Flores going to Ende on Timor. Namely from 1. Aimere (once pr week - but I dont know what weekday)
2. Ende - once pr week - I think it was saturday but not sure.
3. Larantuka - twice pr week - friday and monday. I took this one and the crossing took around 15-16 hours.
However schedules and times can change due to bad weather, technical problems which seems to occure quite often.

Food on the ferries arent much to boast about. Instant noodles mostly. You better fill your stomach before you enter the ferries, at least the two last legs.
The Larantuka - Ende ferry I took was horribly overloaded so not for the faint hearted. But its all a part of the adventure as they say....

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Right, here an update from us. We crossed from Tanjungbalai to Port Klang on the 23rd of December 2 up on one bike.

First: It still works pretty much as described. It seems the people involved are getting the hang of it. There are only a few things to add to Deans initial post:

The biggest: Prices are going up. Everyone involved knows they are sitting on a monopoly here and that we depend on them. The asked price for me was 4.2 million rupiah plus a surprise RM350 (Indo Agent was telling us RM200) asked by the ships owner on the Malaysian side. With some squirming and begging we ended up paying 4 million rupiah and RM300.

Regarding the chance of doing it without an agent: I think this is out of the question now. The ships owner knows about bike travelers and the crew will always refer you back to an agent. So does customs and they might get ideas if you are on your own. But that may just be my view, feel free to try if you have the time.

We did sort out the carnet before meeting with Mr. Ade, which did nothing to change the price.

Sidenote: Do not go with Mr. Ade's suggestion of a hotel (Hotel Ananda) - we fled after an hour due to the insane amount of bedbugs in pretty much every room.

__________________
on the road NZ to GER - check our blog @ www.charowo.net

Hello

Just been to the small boat trader port in Port Klang that carry s the vegetables etc across to either Dumai or Tunjung Balai.
Found a agent ( Orchid shipping ) there who called over a Boat captain and the Captain said that Indonesian Customs laws had changed where you have to be travelling together with a your motorcycle. Hence why you can use the fast ferry,s and they have a monopoly.
The boats captain wasn,t going to risk it.

The building housing the agents and Customs is at

Kawasan 14
3.007791 , 101.390326 according to Google Earth if you are in Port Klang and want to get up too date information.
Orchid shipping Forwarding and Contact services.
In the Asa Niaga Pelabuhan Barter Trade SND Berhad zone

Just a short distance from the ferry terminal.

Also got the ferry owners to measure the door.
A crew member came back with a string and knot that measured 640 mm.
bit smaller than my 830 mm.

Awr, bugger mate.

Regarding the width, I feel like they dicking you around. My handlebars are 905mm wide and they fit through the door without wiggling. See below, that is the narrowest bit there.



Also, wasn't Deans bike strapped to the outside of the smaller ferry?

Anyway, wish you all the best!

__________________
on the road NZ to GER - check our blog @ www.charowo.net

When in Malaysia we were caught by the same trick, I noticed we were the only ones charged for the loading ,unloading.

Hello
Why would they not want to take my money?
They want to take what they can get away with.
Been down to their office five or six times already.

They also said the Marine police weren't allowing them to carry bikes on the outside
Whether they saw the last bike that they carryed across.
Hope it got a good wash afterwards.
I did the same ferry ride three years ago and got wet in the open part at back sometimes.

Hopefully someone else crossing can take a real good door photo and their own piece of string and knot to measure for others concerned following.

Also Orchid Shipping Operation Manager who speaks English phone number is 019-3110 652
e-mail shamosfacs@gmail.com name is Abdul Razak Bin Yusof

Good Luck

yes my bike was strapped to the outside of the boat, right up the front. Somehow it didnt get a drop of water on it, nothing. I didnt even bother to rise it, (2 months later and no rust).

I'm sure anyone's bike will fit in either of the boats, up front of the small one, or inside the bigger one.

sad to hear the price is going up, it's already a lot of money, and i dont feel it's going to anyone who really needs it.

i think there may be some roro ferries that run out of singapore which someone might investigate, although they go into Jakarta, which will be brutally expensive to clear into.

good luck all, here's hoping mr lim gets his boat back soon!!