LaycanDeskTug & Barge 300 ft Coal Set Chartering
Indonesian-flag 270, 300 and 330 ft coal barges with 2,000–3,200 BHP tugs, on freight charter per tonne or on time charter. Indonesian-flag tug and barge sets of 270, 300 and 330 ft for domestic coal and nickel ore: 5,000 to 10,000 tonnes a barge from Kalimantan river and coastal jetties to mother vessels at anchorage, to Java and Sumatra power stations and to the Sulawesi smelter jetties, fixed on freight charter per tonne or on monthly time charter with the shipper's jetty, the receiver's discharge arrangement and the flag settled first.
The 300 ft set is the workhorse of Indonesia's domestic coal trade: a flat-top barge of 300 × 80 × 18 ft (about 91 × 24 × 5.5 m) with 12 to 14 ft steel sideboards, towed by a twin-screw tug of 2 × 1,000 to 2 × 1,600 HP, 2,000 to 3,200 BHP, with 25 to 42 tonnes bollard pull and 600 to 800 m of towing wire. She lifts 7,500 to 8,200 tonnes of coal on a normal river draft and up to about 9,000 tonnes where the jetty and the coal's bulk density allow; the 270 ft barge lifts about 5,000 tonnes, the 330 ft about 10,000. Two loading shapes exist. On transhipment work the set shuttles from a river jetty to a Supramax or Panamax at anchorage, where a floating crane lifts the coal out of the barge, and a 7,500 tonne barge loads at a conveyor jetty in 16 to 24 hours and is emptied by floating crane in about 12; on long towing the set carries the cargo itself from a South or East Kalimantan jetty across the Makassar Strait to a smelter jetty in Sulawesi or south to a Java power station, and the receiver's shore cranes discharge it. Every leg of this is cabotage under Indonesia's Shipping Law No. 17 of 2008, as amended in 2024: domestic cargo moves only on Indonesian-flag ships owned or operated by an Indonesian company holding a SIUPAL sea-transport licence, classed with BKI (or BKI dual-classed with an IACS society) and crewed by Indonesians. That is statute, not an owner's preference, and a foreign-flag set cannot be offered for a domestic leg at any price.
Sets belong to a mix of listed and family-owned Indonesian shipping companies; the large fleets run from about 30 to 90 sets, several with their own floating cranes, and the regional Samarinda and Banjarmasin owners run a dozen or fewer. Sets are fixed two ways: freight charter, a rate per tonne for a named jetty-to-jetty or jetty-to-anchorage voyage, usually with 50 per cent of the freight paid on completion of loading and 50 per cent on completion of discharge, loading and discharging hours agreed per barge, a demurrage rate per day and port disbursements for the owner's account; or time charter, a monthly hire for the set with the charterer paying the fuel, port dues and agency. The contract is the SPAL, the Surat Perjanjian Angkutan Laut, signed directly between the shipper and the owner. Before any owner is asked we need the shipper's name, the loading jetty by name with its operator and licence, the discharge point and how it discharges, the tonnage per barge and the number of loads, the laycan and the payment terms; a stem naming only a river or a district cannot be quoted. Loading and discharge points are background-checked on the public licence registers before the order goes out, and a set is put against a cargo only once her flag, class and owner have been confirmed.
Cargoes
- Steam coal to mother vessels at anchorage
- Steam coal to Java and Sumatra power stations
- Coal to the Sulawesi and Halmahera smelter parks
- Nickel ore from Sulawesi and Halmahera mines
- Sand, aggregates and woodchips on the same sets
Lanes we work
- Mahakam and Berau river jetties to Muara Jawa, Muara Berau and Muara Pantai anchorages
- South Kalimantan jetties (Tanah Bumbu, Kotabaru, Taboneo) to Morowali and Bahodopi
- East and South Kalimantan to Java and Sumatra power stations
- Kalimantan to Weda Bay and Obi
Questions charterers and owners ask
How much coal does a 300 ft barge carry?
About 7,500 to 8,200 tonnes on a normal river draft, and up to around 9,000 tonnes where the jetty's draft and the coal's density allow. A 270 ft barge lifts about 5,000 tonnes and a 330 ft about 10,000. Owners quote the barge's deadweight and the draft at the loading jetty, so an enquiry needs the jetty's maximum draft as much as the tonnage.
Can a foreign-flag tug and barge carry Indonesian domestic coal?
No. Under Indonesia's Shipping Law No. 17 of 2008, as amended in 2024, cargo between two Indonesian points is carried only by Indonesian-flag ships operated by an Indonesian company holding a SIUPAL licence, with Indonesian crew and BKI class. That is a legal requirement, not a matter of policy or price. A foreign-flag barge can be fixed for an international leg only.
Freight charter or time charter: which do owners quote?
Both. Freight charter is a rate per tonne for a named voyage, usually paid 50 per cent on completion of loading and 50 per cent on completion of discharge, with loading and discharging hours per barge, a daily demurrage rate and port costs for the owner. Time charter is a monthly hire for the set with fuel, port dues and agency for the charterer, and suits a shipper with a multi-month programme. Owners generally quote per tonne for transhipment shuttles and long towing alike; a programme of several barges a month gets a time charter idea as well.
What do you need before you go to barge owners?
The shipper's name, the loading jetty by name with its operator, the discharge point and how it discharges (floating crane at anchorage or shore cranes at a jetty), tonnes per barge and number of loads, laycan, loading and discharging hours and the payment terms. Both points are checked against the public port and licence registers before the order goes out. Owners send set name, barge dimensions and deadweight, tug horsepower, class, flag, open port and date to desk-a005f1@in.laycandesk.com.