Awak kapal membagikan pelampung sebelum feri berangkat dari dermaga.

Awak kapal means the crew of a ship/boat/ferry.

• awak = crew
• kapal = ship, boat, vessel

Together, awak kapal functions as a noun phrase meaning the ship’s crew or crew members. In this sentence, it refers to the people working on the ferry.

Membagikan comes from the root bagi, which is related to dividing or distributing.

Here is the basic idea:

• bagi = root word
• membagi = to divide
• membagikan = to hand out, distribute to people

In this sentence, membagikan pelampung means to distribute life jackets/life buoys, so membagikan is the natural choice because the crew is giving them out to passengers.

Very roughly:

• membagi often focuses on dividing something
• membagikan often focuses on distributing something to multiple people

Pelampung is a general word for a flotation device.

Depending on context, it can mean things like:

• life jacket
• life vest
• life buoy
• float

In a ferry context, many learners will understand it as life jacket or life vest, since that is the most likely safety item being handed out.

It could be understood as plural in English, even though Indonesian does not have to mark plural explicitly.

So pelampung can mean:

• a life jacket
• life jackets

In this sentence, because the crew is distributing them before departure, English would usually translate it as life jackets or life vests.

Indonesian often leaves number unmarked unless it needs to be very clear.

Indonesian does not use articles the same way English does.

There is no direct equivalent used here for:

• the
• a/an

So Indonesian often says:

• awak kapal = the crew / a crew, depending on context
• feri = the ferry / a ferry
• dermaga = the dock / a dock

You figure out whether it is definite or indefinite from the situation and context.

The sentence follows a very common Indonesian order:

Awak kapal | membagikan | pelampung | sebelum feri berangkat dari dermaga

That is:

• Awak kapal = subject
• membagikan = verb
• pelampung = object
• sebelum feri berangkat dari dermaga = time clause, meaning before the ferry departs from the dock

So the basic structure is:

Subject + Verb + Object + Time clause

Sebelum means before.

It introduces a clause:

• sebelum feri berangkat dari dermaga = before the ferry departs from the dock

So sebelum connects the main action and the later action:

• main action: the crew distributed the flotation devices
• later action: the ferry departed

It works very much like English before.

Berangkat usually means to depart, especially for a journey or scheduled movement.

Pergi more generally means to go.

So:

• feri berangkat dari dermaga = the ferry departs from the dock
• feri pergi dari dermaga would sound less natural in this context

For vehicles, transport, and travel schedules, berangkat is often the better choice.

Dari means from, and dermaga means dock, pier, or wharf.

So:

• berangkat dari dermaga = depart from the dock

This is a very standard pattern:

• berangkat dari
  • place = depart from a place

Examples:

• berangkat dari rumah = leave from home
• berangkat dari bandara = depart from the airport

Yes, they are related, but they do different jobs in the sentence.

• awak kapal is a set phrase meaning ship’s crew or boat crew
• feri specifically names the vehicle as a ferry

So:

• awak kapal = the crew
• feri = the ferry itself

Using both is natural because one refers to the people working on the vessel, and the other refers to the vessel.

No, Indonesian verbs usually do not change form to mark tense the way English verbs do.

So membagikan and berangkat do not themselves tell you whether the action is:

• past
• present
• future

The time comes from context.

Depending on context, this sentence could mean things like:

• the crew distributed life jackets before the ferry departed
• the crew distributes life jackets before the ferry departs
• the crew will distribute life jackets before the ferry departs

English has to choose a tense, but Indonesian often leaves it unstated unless needed.

A rough English-style pronunciation is:

AH-wak KAH-pal mem-bah-GEE-kan peh-LAHM-poong seh-beh-LOOM FEH-ree ber-ANG-kat DAH-ree der-MAH-gah

A few helpful notes:

• e in Indonesian is not always like English ee; it can be a softer vowel
• ng in pelampung and berangkat is like the ng in sing
• stress in Indonesian is usually not as strong or dramatic as in English, even though learners often mark it that way at first

You might be understood, but membagikan pelampung is better here.

Why?

• membagikan strongly suggests handing out/distributing to people
• membagi can sound more like dividing something

Since the crew is giving safety equipment to passengers, membagikan is the more natural verb.