The authorities of Indonesia's Batam Island officially started on Sunday the operation of direct shipment from Batuampar Port to China's Guangzhou and Shenzhen to boost trade between the two countries.

The direct shipping service was initiated by Persero Batam and the Batam Concession Agency in collaboration with SITC International Holdings, a Hong Kong-based shipping logistics company.

Director of Persero Batam, Arham S. Torik, said at the inaugural voyage in Batam City that the voyage used the MV SITC Hakata with a capacity of 1,000 TEUs. The direct service would routinely sail every Sunday, four trips in a month.

"To ensure the smooth mobilization of the Batam-China direct call, the SITC will operate three vessels. On this first voyage from Batam to China, the SITC will transport 100 containers owned by PT Eco Green," Torik said.

He added that there were already five exporter companies that would join the direct route, hoping there would be more companies to join. "Because the direct call can reduce the transportation cost up to 600 U.S. dollars compared to transiting in Singapore," he said.

Head of the BP Batam Muhammad Rudi appreciated the operation of the Batam-China direct call. "In the future, we hope all companies in Batam can take advantage of this direct shipping to China. Now the shipping route is available, completed by uncomplicated services, hopefully people will see Batam as a good place to ship goods and our target of 2 million TEUs per year will be achieved," Rudi said.