By
Rebecca Gibson |
Genting Cruise Lines has signed a second Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with terminal operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia III (PERSERO) to help grow Indonesia’s cruise industry.
Both parties signed an initial MoU in April 2017, which led to one of the ships in Genting Cruise Lines’ fleet – Dream Cruises’ Genting Dream – homeporting in North Bali later that year. The new agreement will see the organisations co-developing the facilities at Celukan Bawang in North Bali to enable ships of up to 350 metres in length to berth at the port. In addition, they will explore possible joint developments at other cruise ports operated by PERSERO, extending the collaboration beyond North Bali and further across Indonesia.
“At Genting Cruise Lines, we remain highly committed to the development of Indonesia as a key cruise hub for the region, as well as an important source market and destination for the tourism industry,” said Kent Zhu, the company’s president. “We recognise the need for updated cruise infrastructure in the area and have actively taken the lead in pioneering improvements to port facilities in order to ensure the future growth of the cruise business. We will continue to work closely with our Indonesian counterparts in creating new opportunities for the local cruise tourism to flourish as evidenced by the successful deployments of our ships to Jakarta, Medan, North Bali and Bintan Island recently, complemented by a series of ongoing collaborations to develop additional ports across Indonesia.”
Speaking on behalf of PERSERO’s president director Doso Agung said: “We are excited on the rapid growth of the cruise tourism in Indonesia and look forward to establishing closer ties with Genting Cruise Lines for the development of cruise ports operated by PT Pelabuhan Indonesia III and beyond,” said “We are proud of the development under our portfolio, particularly in Celukan Bawang. The ability to prepare the port in double quick time to receive Dream Cruises’ Genting Dream in December 2017 reiterates our joint commitment to the cruise tourism in Indonesia.”
Genting Cruise Lines is also spearheading cruise developments across different ports in the region including Guangzhou in China, Shimizu in Japan, Manila in the Philippines and Bintan Island in Indonesia.
“Through these ongoing initiatives, our goal is to support local ports in Indonesia to enable them to progress and move up the value chain, which, in turn, will further boost the cruise industry not only in Indonesia but across Asia,” said Zhu.