Its was very nice to visit Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Indonesia in 1993 when I visit Indonesia fly by Garuda Airlines, with my family we had been visit Bali,Kalimantan,Jakarta, that we had offer from Garuda Flight carrier in our city as the promotion fare from those airlines. We had been a selected a package tour choose and recommended by a friends who was visiting before to Kalimantan. Finnaly we chosee company called' Borneo Discovery Tours' that they give us an offering itineraries for our family during visit Balikpapan, Kalimantan. Our itinaries is very simple, that we would like to see the life on the mahakam river bank itself. we would like to explore the river, dayak and museum also we request to see fresh water dolphin on the mahakam river. This agent was very experiences, becouse the guide is very knowlegeble ( Guide name Aswin/Wing) he was helpfull, informative, educational, and effesiency. we took 4 Days/3 Night itineraries for mahakam river safari. endles to say this trip was memorable for member of the family and the agent was very care, and services is superb.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Visit East Borneo, Balikpapan
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Semayang Harbour
From a humble beginning, the air & Sea freight consolidation and forwarding activities were centralized at a 450 square feet warehouse cum office space located at Sepinggan. And personel in the team to handle all activities ranging from cargo palletization, packing, labeling, cutting of Air waybills,and Bill of Ladding preparation of custom declarations to lodging in of the consignment to the air port ( BANDARA SEPINGGAN ) & Sea port (PELABUHAN SEMAYANG ) line terminals. The company since then has achieved continuous progress till today, it occupies a 350 square feet warehouse cum office space within the Sepinggan International Airport free trade zone (FTZ) which has complete cargo handling facilities, good security & computer controlled Terminals. Apart from this expansion, the company has also bought and develop a warehouse from Sepinggan Balikpapan specially catered to the needs of Logistics and Distribution activities. The warehouse has an area of 1000 square feet. It is situated at No. 1A RT 57 RW 10 Marsma Iswayudi. Sepinggan Drive, only 1 kilometers away from Sepinggan International Airport. The warehouse has offered invaluable support to Asean and Asia companies that rely on Distribution Centre (DC) in Balikpapan East Kalimantan - INDONESIA as a hub for distribution of their goods to regional countries in Asean. All inbound and outbound shipments are handled using our usual network, associate offices and customs brokers.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Sepinggan International Airport
Sepinggan International Airport (IATA: BPN, ICAO: WALL) is the principal airport serving East Kalimantan area on the island of Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is located about 4.5 km east of Balikpapan. The airport began its new operational phase in 1997, with new building and runway structure, replacing old structure on the same site.
It should be noted that some sources such as Aviation Indonesia and A-Z World Airports Online show the ICAO code as WRLL. However, other sources such as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and PT Angkasa Pura I [1] show the code as WALL.
My Oil City
Balikpapan is a seaport city on the eastern coast of Borneo island in the East Kalimantan province, a resource-rich region well known for its timber, mining and petroleum export products. Two harbors, Semayang and Kariangau - ferry harbour, and the Sepinggan International Airport are the main transportation access to and from the city.
Demographics
During the Suharto administration, Indonesia faced unprecedented growth of economic expansion by promoting foreign investments, particularly in the exploitation of natural and mineral resources. Although the policy was heavily criticized for uncontrolled environmental damages and corrupted bureaucrats and politicians, it significantly boosted urban development in resource-rich cities. In 1970s, Balikpapan experienced 7% population growth annually when exports of timber and petroleum increased dramatically.
Transporstation
Balikpapan's airport is the Sepinggan International Airport. This is the second busiest Indonesian airport after Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and permits large aircraft.
Airlines currently using the airport are Lion Air, Merpati Airlines, Batavia Air, Kartika Airlines, Sriwijaya Air (domestic routes), and Garuda Indonesia, Air Asia, and Silk Air (International routes).
The airport is one of the five principle sites in Indonesia where Muslims begin the pilgrimage to Mecca, the "Hajj". Between 1996 and 1997, the airport served over 4,500 East Kalimantan pilgrims, and from 1997 to 1998, it served pilgrims from East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, and North Sulawesi.
Other than the airport, Balikpapan also has a seaport called "Semayang" which has many destinations to Surabaya, Makasssar, Jakarta, Pare-Pare, and Manado. in 1990s, transportation using ships was very popular. But after the booming of so many new airlines with very cheap price, people now prefer travelling using airplanes to the ships.
The ferry is also another alternative for travelling to other places within coastal areas in East Kalimantan, such as Penajam.
Economy
Some multinational corporations have commercial activities in this city such as Pertamina (Indonesia), Total S.A. (France), Chevron (US), Schlumberger, and Halliburton (US). Government public services also attract many people to work in this area, with presence of Bank Indonesia, Finance Department, Port of Semayang, and several others.
Balikpapan oil refinery is located on the shore of Balikpapan Bay and covers an area of 2.5 km². Established in 1922, it is the oldest refinery in the area. It was destroyed in World War II by the Allies of World War II and re-built in 1950. The refinery has two subunits, Balikpapan I and Balikpapan II.
Balikpapan I consists of two raw oil refinery units that produce naphtha, kerosene, gasoline, diesel fuel, and residue and one high-vacuum unit that produces 100 tonnes (approx 98 tons) of paraffin oil distillate (POD), used as raw material for wax factories. The wax itself has various grades and is sold domestically and internationally.
Opened on November 1, 1983, Balikpapan II has a hydro-skimming and hydro-cracking refinery and produces petrol, LPG, naphtha, kerosene, and diesel fuel.
Balikpapan Oil City
The topography of the municipality of Balikpapan is generally hilly (85%), with only small areas of flatland (15%), particularly along the coast and surrounding the hilly areas. The hills are less than 100 meters higher than the adjacent valleys. The altitude of Balikpapan ranges from 0 to 80 meters above sea level.
Most of the soil in Balikpapan contains yellow-reddish podsolic soil and alluvial and quartz sand, making it extremely prone to erosion.
Prior to the oil boom, Balikpapan was an isolated Bugis fishing village. The etimology of Balikpapan name (lit. balik is behind and papan is a plank) came from a folk story where a local king threw his newborn daughter into the sea to protect her against his enemies. The baby was tied beneath some planks, which were discovered by a fisherman.[citation needed]In 1897, the first drilling of oil began by a small refinery company.[1] Roads, wharves, wharehouses, offices, barracks and bungalows construction started when a Dutch oil company arrived in the area. On January 24, 1942, Balikpapan became a war theatre between Japanese army and the Allied Forces in which the oil refinery and other facilities were heavily damaged. Several campaigns followed until the 1945 Battle of Balikpapan which concluded the Allied Forces' Borneo campaign after which they took control of the Borneo island.
Extensive wartime damaged almost total oil production in the area and a major repairs were performed by the Royal Dutch Shell company. Shell continued operating in the area until Indonesian state-owned Pertamina took it over in 1965.[1] Having lack of technology, skilled manpower and capital to explore the petroleum region, Pertamina sublet petroleum concession contracts to multinational companies in the 1970s.
Being the only oil refinery site in the region, Balikpapan emerged as a revitalized center of petroleum production. Pertamina opened its regional headquarter in the city, followed by branch offices establishment by international oil companies. Hundreds of labourers from other part of Indonesia and skilled expatriats as managers and engineers, flocked into the city.
