Cluster analysis of marine toll service area to minimize price disparity to inprove the economy of the east Indonesian region in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

High price disparity is an economic problem that causes the welfare level of the population to be low. The government through the Sea Highway program tries to reduce price disparities through subsidized and scheduled sea transportation to serve several ports in Indonesia, one of which is in the province of Riau Islands. The Strait of Lampa Port is one of the marine transportation nodes which is a stopover point for Sea Toll boats on the T-3 route serving Natuna Regency. This port has the status of a regional feeder port with the hinterland area of Natuna Regency with Ranai as the district capital. This study aims to provide input related to the clustering of the Marine Highway program in Natuna from several perspectives, namely from the potential of regional commodities and infrastructure for Sea Toll services in the Natuna region. The analysis method used is descriptive qualitative and comparative. The results showed that for the cluster of the western region of Indonesian waters, in this case represented by a sample of the T-3 Natuna Islands Sea Toll route service, in terms of supply and demand from the homebase of Tanjung Priok Port, it is sufficiently balanced even though there are several superior commodities in the Natuna archipelago that have not yet optimally distributed, due to the low development and increase in added value of commodities. Based on the sample Sea Toll service route that has been selected for the Western Region of Indonesia, namely the T-3 route for the Natuna Islands region, several criteria that need to be considered in the future regarding the Sea Toll service cluster include regional commodities, Port infrastructure facilities and infrastructure, hinterland transportation facilities and infrastructure, and ship type and capacity.