KMP Inerie II Deployed to Replace Docked KMP Ile Ape on Palue Relief Route

Labuan Bajo — — The Ministry of Transportation has appointed the ferry KMP Inerie II to temporarily replace KMP Ile Ape on the Palue route, supporting logistics and passenger movements after a major earthquake in Flores. The ship was ordered to sail from Surabaya to Nusa Tenggara Timur with humanitarian cargo, but available reports describe departures on 5 and 9 September rather than a specific 8 September voyage.

According to a report citing the Ministry of Transportation, KMP Inerie II was designated as a temporary replacement for KMP Ile Ape, which entered annual docking on 5 September 2026. The instruction asked PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero) to operate KMP Inerie II as a substitute vessel until KMP Ile Ape returns to service, to ensure continuity of inter-island transport and distribution of aid.

A separate report from Maumere stated that the docking of KMP Ile Ape had disrupted the flow of relief supplies to Palue Island, prompting Sikka Regent Juventus Prima Yoris Kago to request a replacement ferry from the Ministry of Transportation. The regent said the local government had issued a letter on 1 September to extend the use of a ferry on the route and, in the interim, considered chartering wooden motorboats to move aid.

Replacement ferry movements

Media reports and ASDP-related coverage describe KMP Inerie II’s humanitarian mission from Surabaya to NTT in early September, but they do not support a specific departure on 8 September as stated in the draft.

One business outlet reported that ASDP deployed KMP Inerie II to carry humanitarian assistance from Surabaya to Maumere, with departure from Surabaya on Wednesday, 9 September 2026 at 14:50 Western Indonesia Time, and an expected arrival in Maumere on Friday, 11 September. Another article noted that KMP Inerie II left Surabaya on 9 September as a replacement for KMP Ile Ape and was prepared to support logistics shipments to Palue.

Additional coverage from Flores-based media indicated that KMP Inerie II was mobilised to serve the Kewapante–Palue route and distribute logistics to earthquake survivors, again referring to a 9 September departure from Surabaya. A separate article said ASDP was ready to send aid to NTT using KMP Inerie II from Surabaya’s Ujung Port, with a departure scheduled on Saturday, 5 September, and invited businesses and humanitarian organisations to deliver aid to the port for loading.

Impact on Palue and route conditions

KMP Ile Ape is described as the only ferry routinely serving the Kewapante–Palue–Pemana–Marpokot route in Sikka Regency. During the emergency response to the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck off eastern Indonesia on 15 August 2026, government logistics for Palue were delivered directly using KMP Ile Ape. Palue, an island district of Sikka, was among the areas reported as heavily affected by the quake.

As KMP Ile Ape went into docking, local reports said the ferry terminal at Kewapante became quiet and the distribution of aid to Palue slowed, with the regent proposing wooden motorboat charters as a stopgap solution. The docking was described as annual maintenance lasting from 5 September 2026, with no firm public date yet given for KMP Ile Ape’s return.

Subsequent coverage from regional media reported that KMP Inerie II’s voyage from Surabaya to Maumere and onward to Palue carried humanitarian assistance for communities affected by the disaster, including cargo guarded by local police during sea transport. From Maumere, the vessel reportedly continued to Palue to unload aid for distribution by local authorities and military disaster-response teams.

Ongoing aid delivery

On 18 September 2026, 35 days after the earthquake, a military disaster task force in Sikka was still delivering logistics to Palue, unloading goods from KMP Ile Ape at Palue Port for onward transport to a main earthquake-response post. This indicates that by mid-September, KMP Ile Ape had resumed at least some operations on the route, while KMP Inerie II remained part of the broader relief effort described by the Ministry of Transportation and ASDP.

Taken together, the available reports confirm the Ministry’s decision to deploy KMP Inerie II as an ASDP-operated replacement ferry for KMP Ile Ape and document its humanitarian sailings from Surabaya to Maumere and Palue in early and mid-September. They do not, however, specify a separate ASDP ferry departure on 8 September or provide detailed public information on cargo volumes, fares or the full timetable of replacement sailings.

Sources

• Florespedia.id – "Jamin Kelancaran Angkutan Penyeberangan di NTT, KMP Inerie II Gantikan KMP Ile Ape yang Docking"
• Tribunnews regional – "Distribusi Logistik ke Palue Macet, Bupati Sikka Minta Kemenhub Hadirkan Ferry Pengganti"
• Republika/RM.id – "ASDP Kerahkan KMP Inerie II Kirim Bantuan Untuk Warga Terdampak Bencana NTT"
• RRI – "Polres Sikka Kawal Distribusi Bantuan Gempa lewat Laut"
• AP News – "Magnitude 7.7 quake strikes off Indonesia's coast, killing at least 47"
• Koran Jakarta – "Dengan KMP Inerie II, ASDP Siap Kembali Bawa Bantuan untuk NTT"