The new scheme of Hajj and Umrah trips via sea routes, Minister of Religion Nasaruddin Umar said this

FAJAR.CO.ID, JAKARTA – For the people of Indonesia, the pilgrimage has been going on long before the country is independent.

Muslims in the archipelago have Hajj in the past when there is no air transportation. That’s why the pilgrimage is carried out by sea using ships.

Hajj with the sea route trip was mentioned by the Minister of Religion (Menag) Nasaruddin Umar. Hajj information through the sea route immediately received a variety of responses by the public.

Because so far, the understanding of modern society that Hajj including Umrah, uses air transportation. That also took about 10 hours of flight.

Nasaruddin asserted, the use of sea routes for the departure of Indonesian pilgrims and Umrah is still limited to discourse.

Then the Ministry of Religion has not been able to ascertain whether marine transportation modes can be an additional option in addition to flights for Hajj and Umrah.

“It is still in discourse, in discourse,” Nasaruddin Umar said when asked by reporters after the Kick-off Annual International Conference on Islam, Science, and Society Plus (AICIS+) 2025 in Central Jakarta (9/7).

The Ministry of Religion itself has conveyed the pilgrimage discourse through the sea route to the Saudi Arabian government. So far, the possibility of the use of sea routes for pilgrimage and Umrah travel continues to be discussed with the authority of the Saudi kingdom.

The launch of SGIE Report 2024/2025 and the commemoration of a decade of the Indonesian Halal Lifestyle Center (IHLC) in Bappenas (8/7), Nasaruddin said the government was exploring the possibility of opening sea routes as an alternative implementation of Umrah and Hajj. He said this initiative was being discussed with Saudi authorities.