User Perception of Service Quality Following Port Rehabilitation: A SERVQUAL and Modified Importance-Performance Analysis at a Non-Commercial Bulk Feeder Port

Abstract

Terminal Sluke, a publicly operated bulk and energy feeder port in Rembang, Central Java, underwent a partial berth and trestle rehabilitation in 2023-2024, and this study examines whether its users perceived a change in port service quality. Perception was measured with SERVQUAL, a Customer Satisfaction Index, and a modified importance-performance analysis, and compared with the terminal's berth occupancy ratio. In an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design, an open-ended survey in October 2024 (n = 12) identified the attributes that matter to vessel agents, stevedoring contractors, and the pilotage provider, and a four-point SERVQUAL questionnaire measured them in May 2025 (n = 19; Cronbach's alpha = 0.90). The basic and weighted indices both place users in the satisfied band (74.97% and 75.12%). Tangibles is the only dimension below the 70% threshold (69.57%), and basic landside facilities scored lowest. Reliability, Responsiveness, and Assurance fall in the keep-up-the-good-work quadrant and Tangibles and Empathy in the low-priority quadrant; because the importance weights were derived from performance, the map is read as a relative ranking. Reliability lies almost on both quadrant boundaries, and a 2025 average berth occupancy of 84.42% shows that traffic has outgrown the 2017 port master plan. Sustaining the post-rehabilitation gains requires an early revision of that plan and a resolution of the land status that blocks landside facilities.