Passenger Ferry Penang -> Sumatra stopped?
 

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Cheers mate:thumbup1:

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.

Sumatra to Malasia
 

Hi I new of Medan as a crossing but Port Klang? I looked but can not find it, is it north east of Medan ?

Port Klang is in Malaysia Rick - just west of KL. I shipped there from Oz 33 years ago - interesting town, I got to see a FAIR bit of it due to shipping delays. :cursing: :biggrin3:

Timae: I'm confused. You say you shipped with Cakra to Belawan, then you describe your experience on arrival in Dumai? What am I missing?

Last I heard customs in Dumai confiscated a friend's bike, saying you need a permit to drive in Indo.

Sorry for the confusion.

I shipped with Cakra from Penang to Belawan. Then I, without my bike, took the passenger ferry from Port Klang (Malaysia) to Tanjung Balai (sumatra).I took Tanjung Balai instead of Dumai because the ferry was cheaper and the bus/taxi ride in Sumatra only1/5 of the time from Dumai up to Medan.

But as I said before,this is my own fault simply because I am stil lhoping to make it till Oz without planes.

Gotcha. :thumbup1:

I wonder how you will get from Indo to Oz by boat...

so do I ;)

Indo - Oz
 

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

Timor to Aus
 

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

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.

Shipping with Perkins
 

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

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!)

It's undersandable if you are shipping intercontinentaly - long distance, weather, currents, etc. From Dili to Darwin is only 700km and ship is doing it in 40 hours. It's more like a ferry than freight. 2 weeks for organization and paperwork is radiculous, I am not gonna change my opinion about them.

One of the reasons, why seafreight is so slow in reality, is the fact, that they´ll usually have a whole ship, that they need to load and unload... depends on the ship of course, but it can be a LOT more stuff, than can be fitted on an average cargo plane. Ok, Dili´s only a stopover for Perkins, so they probably won´t fully unload there, but it can still take some time to move stuff around.

An then the ports, at least the bigger ones, do not usually concentrate on one ship, they have several ships coming and going all the time, so to get the right equipment, cranes and stuff, could also mean a delay, before you can even start to load/unload. And it´s not likely, that your bike will be the last thing they load in, and first thing they unload either. Sailing times themselves can be surprisingly quick, but they´re not the whole story.

Distance has no effect on how long the ship will have to stay on the port on both ends. It depends on other factors (but especially, if you´re sending stuff just a short way, then naturally the wait can feel unbelievably long).

Besides, freighting individual travellers motorcycles is so rare, and so "peanuts" to the ship operators (really not much money to be made out of it), that they probably don´t really care, whether you get the fastest service possible or not. Tough sh*t, yeah of course, but it is what it is.

I remember a couple of Aussies, who sent from Bali to Perth by sea (but their bikes went by truck to Surabaya first)... it was estimated to take 5 weeks, and I don´t know, how long it actually took, could be even longer. In this case (Indo/Timor <—> Oz), when there are no ferries, if you´re in a hurry, you´ll have to use airfreight. If you go by sea (seafreight I mean), always calculate at least 4-5 days at EACH end, and then add to that what the actual sailing time is. Then you might sometimes get a pleasant surprise, if it goes quicker... :)

Thanks for explanation how it works.
Yeah...it makes sense but container with bike is the smalest one and Dili is last loading port. It shouldn't be a big deal to load it as last and unload first. If they only wish. Apparently they didn't, even if asked them for it many times. Unloading only took whole week! It doesn't gain sypmathy for them. I was treated like pain in the arse. I can't justify it and simply not recommending.

Onion boats are working again
 

Just in case someone followed the thread up to here....

The onion boats from Mr. Lim go again both directions between Butterworth/Penang in Malaysia and Belawan/Medan in Indonesia.

Going to put a shipment in the database in a couple of days.


Chris
Thataway - Gedanke

PS: Has anyone done the Perkins shipping lately and any contact which is answering in Dili...???

YES THATS CORECT I SHIPD MAY BIKE WHID CAKRA ENTERPRISE FROM BELAWAN TO PENANG COST FROM INDONESIA TO PENANG IS 70 US THEN IN MAYLASIA YUO HAVE TO PAY 550 RINGIT 180 US SO THE TOTAL COAST IS 250 US THE AIR TICKET FROM MEDAN TO PENANG IS 70 US .A FRIND SHIPD HIS BIKE FROM DUMAI TO MELAKA AND THAT COST HIM 900 US PLUS 40 US IN MAYLASIA AT THE SAME TIME .THE SHIPING IN BELAWAN WHAS EASY AND NO SURPRISES IFF STAYING IN BELAWAN THEAR IS 1 SHEAP HOTEL CALD ELLIOT GUEST HOUSE ALSO WHORKS ASS A CHINES HORE HOUSE ATT NIGHT INTRESTING BUT NOT CLEAN BEATEAR TO STAY IN MEDAN THE SHIPING GOES 1 TIME A WHEAK ONE TUESDAYS BEA ATT THE OFFICE IN BELAWAN ATT 9,00 IN THE MORNING SEND MR LIM A EMAIL AND HE WHILGIVE YUO THE ADRESS IN BELAWAN cakrashipping@gmail.com phone in maylasia is 012-4709717 ast or 042625879 adres in penang is 187. 2nd floor . lebuh pantai 10300 penang malaysia it whas easy and fast to geat the bike aout off custums in malaysia time about 2 auoers in malasia penang thear is a good repeair shop four big bikes PLANET CYCLE SHOP NO 363,K JALAN SULTANAZLAN SHAH PHONE 6012-4742995 OR 6046553435 AFTEAR 3 MONTHS IN INDONESIA IT WHAS GREAT TO GEAT SOME SERVICE CARBURATOR FULL OFF SHIT AIR FILTER TIERS BIKE FEALT LIKE NEW AGAIN ENJOY THE GREAT COACH IN THE OFFICE AND THE GOOD MEKANIK HE IS A REAL PROO

Thanks for the update - it is good to know the boats are going ahead as hoped.
I plan to ship a bike from Sumatra to Penang in April next year (2013).

I will be wandering along the Indonesian islands after shipping to Dili - hopefully without too many delays. We shall see...

chris: try mohd.azni@tollgroup.com he is their dili trade manager. we had email contact with him when we shippe 2 months ago

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.

it is very worth getting a visa sorted for indonesia before you arrive - a visa upon arrival (not available from all ports) is only valid for 30 days, whereas if you get one sorted before you arrive, it will be issued for 60 days

malaysia is very easy - depending on where you are from, a visa will be issued on arrival for 60 or 90 days. see Visa policy of Malaysia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for a list of which countries get which visa

Sorry, I forgot to include the most important info. I am planning on being there with my motorcycle, so the question is more related to the bike than to me :innocent:

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

No problem. I still have the details.
+6707325359 and email:
troy@crocodile-agency.com

You find him not far from Perkins. Slightly off main street.
Good luck

Hi Paul,

I shipped my bike from Dili to Darwin about 2 months ago. I wrote a process how I got my bike shipped to Process to get bike from Dili to Darwin | Where is Hemuli?
It is easily doable by you, so I would not pay to anyone (it is expensive even without any other payments).
You can get a bed from Darwin for around $30/night (hostels).
I was told that the reason why Dili shipment is so slow in Darwin side is due to all material need to go through quarantine inspection. They said that due to this reason Singapore shipments are much faster.
Things can go wrong and delays might appear, so you just need to be flexible :)

Great, thanks for the contact details Motocimek.

Thanks for the info Hemuli.