Passenger Ferry Penang -> Sumatra stopped?

[timae]

hi guys,

I was told by a backpacker in Singapore, that the passenger ferries from Penang to Medan recently stopped running. As always there's no reliable source online to be found.

Anybody got any news?

I also wrote the company, but they didn't answer yet, also couldn't get anyone on the phone.

Cheers
Tim

[somemustard]

Hi Tim,

We are currently near Penang so I gave the ferry office a call, and the information that you have is correct.

There is no longer any ferry service between Penang and Medan you have to fly, there is a passenger ferry between Dumai and Port Klang we used this service and bought the bikes over on an onion boat.

Regards

[timae]

Ah damn it. Thought so.

Thanks a lot for the fast answer.

I also received a mail from the company today confirming exactly what you said, also that Klang is the nearest possible option.

[albert wildgen]

We are now on the east coast of Malaysia and intend to ship our bike to Indonesia next week.

Please keep us updated on how you managed to get to Indonesia.

Albert

[Xander]

Originally Posted by somemustard

Hi Tim,

We are currently near Penang so I gave the ferry office a call, and the information that you have is correct.

There is no longer any ferry service between Penang and Medan you have to fly, there is a passenger ferry between Dumai and Port Klang we used this service and bought the bikes over on an onion boat.

Regards

We are intending to do this in a couple of months (in Malaysia now but will still intend to do the northern countries). Any way could you please tell us, how long it took to arrange the shipping (i think it only runs once a week (is this correct), and how long the shipping took. Also was it a RORO service or do we need to sorce a crate. How much did it cost? and what did the flights or ferry cost for you to travel as well.
Cheers
Tam and Xander

[somemustard]

Hi Tam and Xander,

Below is the link to the original post that we did for the onion boat from Dumai to Port Klang,
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/trip-transport/shipping-the-bike-dumai-melaka-35519

This is the company that handled the bikes once they arrived in Malaysia
Osfacs Sdn
(Orchid Shipping Forwarding Services)
Operations office
T1-21 Kompeks Barter Trade
Lot 14473 Jetty Asa Niaga
Jalan Pelabuhan Klang
the operations manager is Abdul Razak (Sham)
PH: 03-3166-1264
Mobile 019-311-0652

Sorry we do not have any details of the people that we used in Indonesia.
As for the passenger ferry I think it runs every day and costs around 100RM.
There is no RORO service and we did not have to crate the bikes.
Regards

[Xander]

Cheers mate

[timae]

Just so this is complete:

I didn't know about the possibility of shipping out of PT. Klang and so took the little detour described above.Shipped it, like everyone, with Cakra, contact data see here. Highly pleased with the service and the folks in Penang. The only little thing was that I couldn't be there while loading cause Friday was a holiday, but I guess that's not really a sensible point on the con-list.

If you are not as dumb as I am you can take one of two daily AirAsia flights to Medan for only 129 MYR including everything.

The other option is Port Klang, BUT instead of taking the Dumai bound ferry there is a second Ferry going to Tanjung Balai, no visa on arrival, though the 1-month Visa is even more of a joke than the 2-month one. This cuts your Bus-Time in Sumatra from near 20h to 4h. They are not used to foreigners taking that route I think as everyone from customs officer to daily users was very interested (starring). It was crowded as hell that day, delayed by around 3 hours and so full, people had to wait on the outside deck. Customs was a mess as everything was done in the ship and took ages. Though I was told it's usually way less crowded, just the holiday playing me again. To get from there to Medan you either take a share taxi or the train.

Private cars go for 200.000 Rp, at least I was told so by a friendly local working in KL and speaking English sharing the taxi with me and explaining and helping me loads (yes, shitluck), might even go cheaper. But for a 4 hour ride I considered it OK. So if you're more than 3 people it's pretty much a nice deal. If you're alone it's a little ruff.

I later was told in Medan there are also trains running for 10.000 Rp. I did neither see a train station nor did it look like there'd be one, but Lonely Planet says the same. 2 daily trains, no idea about the times.

There's also supposed to be a hotel in town somewhere the custom guys told me.

In Belawan the agent was a dick. Tried to overcharge me on official fees and was still sleeping when I called, after finding the closed office, at 9am and told me to wait 2-3 hours. Again it's Ramadan, and so this might be a bad day, but still, I got pretty pissed after getting up at 6.30 myself to get out there in time. After I told him I'm going to the customs myself he magically appeared within 30 minutes.

So for all: Official Harbour-Fee is 800.000 Rp, at least the main customs office and Cakra told me so. He tried a million first, wanted 900.000 for 20 Minutes, he even called Cakra who told me not to pay so he gave up after a little more.

The customguys were great, fast and friendly.

Hope it helps.

[Lisa Thomas]

timae
I think you will need to go from East Timor to Oz.
good luck

[ricktherider]

I came the opposite way Perkins and the agents do not allow passengers to go on board. And believe me I tried hard the only way I could do it was fly and it is not cheap Airnorth I think the airline is. Maybe the yacht clubs are going now from Darwin they sometimes give a lift but not when I went

[timae]

I know that prekins is a no go for passengers, already asked them. I'm trying to contact Bob out of the shipping section and leave from Kupang currently. But his E-mail is not working anymore. I'll try the phone within a few days.

But as this is still a long time away. at least 3 months or so, I am not really trying hard yet.

[Motocimek]

I shipped my bike from Dili to Darwin Jan 2012. It's not either pleasent, fast or cheap option, it's just only option you can take.
They don't answer to emails, don't want to be handy when you arrive, you are just another anoying biker for them among all other big bosses with they huge cargo. They just ignore you.

Even though ship was in the port they said they won't let me load my bike on and I have to wait 8 days for another. The next one was delayed for another two days. When ship finally arrived in Darwin I had to wait another 5 days until they unloaded whole lot. Then weekend approaced and I had to wait until monday when I could do quarantine and custom and after another half day waiting for custom's rapport, they allowed me to ride out from port.

Don't even dream about boardind the ship, there is strictly no option.

Dili is expensive and not very nice place to stay. I decided to leave my bike with Troy, who is specialist in preparing to OZ quarantine and let him bring it to the port later for me then flew out.

The cost of shipping was 480AU$
Quarantine 150AU$
Flight with Airnorth 240AU$
Night in Darwin min 60AU$, I waited for more than 2 weeks
Troy took 120$ to sort all for me, good man, highly recommended.


If I am to do it again I would rather look for some other option. Probably something from Singapore or by air from Surabaya, but no more Perkins.

More details in my blog

[pecha72]

With shipfreight, you often end up waiting for days, or even weeks.

We were planning to use Perkins with my girlfriend 4 years ago, but riding thru Sumatra & Java, just as we arrived in Bali, we got the news, that there had been a coup attempt in East Timor, and possibility of further unrest, so we decided, that it was best to avoid it for the time being. That´s why (after finding out, that there wasn´t anything available from Kupang at that time) we ended up airlifting the bike with Qantas to Perth – and because of airplane types, it had to go via Melbourne (so would´ve probably been cheaper to just send it there!)... anyway, because of this, total flight time went from 3 to over 10 hours, and total bill for the freight only (not including quarantine and roadworthiness etc. in Oz) was around 1200 euros.

I remember thinking, how much cheaper it would´ve been, if we could´ve used Perkins.... (but if that option includes a risk of getting shot at, as seemed possible back then, then I´d be happy to pay that money again – and we only had to wait for one day in Perth, which was good, because accommodation was expensive!)

[paulhamblett]

Originally Posted by Motocimek

I shipped my bike from Dili to Darwin Jan 2012. It's not either pleasent, fast or cheap option, it's just only option you can take.
They don't answer to emails, don't want to be handy when you arrive, you are just another anoying biker for them among all other big bosses with they huge cargo. They just ignore you.

Even though ship was in the port they said they won't let me load my bike on and I have to wait 8 days for another. The next one was delayed for another two days. When ship finally arrived in Darwin I had to wait another 5 days until they unloaded whole lot. Then weekend approaced and I had to wait until monday when I could do quarantine and custom and after another half day waiting for custom's rapport, they allowed me to ride out from port.

Don't even dream about boardind the ship, there is strictly no option.

Dili is expensive and not very nice place to stay. I decided to leave my bike with Troy, who is specialist in preparing to OZ quarantine and let him bring it to the port later for me then flew out.

The cost of shipping was 480AU$
Quarantine 150AU$
Flight with Airnorth 240AU$
Night in Darwin min 60AU$, I waited for more than 2 weeks
Troy took 120$ to sort all for me, good man, highly recommended.


If I am to do it again I would rather look for some other option. Probably something from Singapore or by air from Surabaya, but no more Perkins.

More details in my blog

Hi,

I understand this is a fair while ago, but wondered if you could share how you got in contact with Troy or where to find him in Dili?

Many thanks,

Paul

[Mombassa]

I have a question on Indonesia and Malyasia. How long can I stay in-country for each? Is it 30 days or longer?
Thanks for any info. Just started planning this part.