Pembinaan Pelabuhan Laut Dalam di Singapura di Bawah Pentadbiran Singapore Harbour Board,1913-1929 (The Building of A Deep Water Port In Singapore Under The Administration of The Singapore Harbour Board, 1913-1929)

Abstract

The main focus of this article is to study the building of a deep water port in Singapore under the British administration from 1913 to 1929. During this period, the British had planned to develop a deep water port managed by the Singapore Harbour Board, after took over from the previous administration of Tanjong Pagar Dock Board. This is due to stiff competition with other important ports in Southeast Asia and East Asia like Port of Sabang, Surabaya Port and Port of Tanjong Priok in Indonesia and Port of Hong Kong in providing excellent facilities and infrastructure in the region. The main objective of this study is to analyse the role of British in building the deep water port in Singapore. The finding from the study showed that huge investment were needed by the British to build a deep water port including a reclamation and dredging works at Keppel Harbour. The method used in this study is historical method by using primary sources like official letters from Colonial Office (C.O) and Annual Reports from the Straits Settlements regarding trade, shipping and port developments. Finally, the finding from the study showed that before 1930 the British had succesful built a deep water port in Singapore that was not only functioned as a main entrepot port in Southeast Asia, but also in providing excellent services like ship building and ship repairing for British ships in the region.