TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned ship operator PT Pelni is taking an active role in handling Covid-19 by providing its ships as isolation centers.

President Director of PT Pelni, Insan Purwarisya L. Tobing, said that her office was ready to assist the government in suppressing the spread of Covid-19 in Indonesia, with the support from the Ministry of Transportation.

In Makassar, the company provided the Umsini Motorboat (KM) as an isolation venue. "With the cooperation of various parties, PT Pelni has prepared KM Umsini as a floating isolation location according to applicable standards to support efforts in handling Covid-19," said Insan, as quoted from pelni.co.id, Wednesday, August 18.

The state-ownd ship operator provides several facilities, such as beds, polyclinics, and jogging tracks on the ships set as isolation venues. "With the existing facilities, it is hoped that patients will feel comfortable while carrying out self-isolation on the ship and can help them recover," said Insan.

In addition to Makassar, PT Pelni has also prepared a floating isolation place in Medan City using KM Bukit Raya.

“The government has prepared a centralized isolation in the form of a ship, namely the Pelni ship. The trial has been carried out in Makassar and now it is being prepared in Medan using KM Bukit Raya with a capacity of 1,000 beds," said Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Chair of the Committee for Covid-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery (KPC-PEN), Airlangga Hartanto, at in an online conference on Monday, August 16, 2021.

In addition to Makassar and Medan, the government has also prepared centralized isolation sites using Pelni ships in other places, such as Padang, Bitung, Sorong, and Jayapura.

Read: Pelni Preps Ship as Covid-19 Isolation Center in Makassar

S. Dian Andryanto | Maudey K. Setyakusuma