Ports of the World

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The next bridge appears:

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But Samarinda is not only about Coal and shipbuilding, Here is barge load of logs heading down river:


Logs floating in pens, waiting to be processed into sawn timber or plywood:




More logs on barges and in shore storage at a Plywood factory:

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Another main business in Samarinda is the Long Boats that carry people and goods up and down the river and the Seatruck that does the same in the delta, working for TOTAL and their Contractors.

Here is a picture that capture both types:


A Long Boat that carry tourists for up to seven day cruises up river:




They are plentiful:

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Simpler Long Boats carry locals up and down to the various Dyak Long House, Mining Sites and Logging camps along the river:




Here is one loaded and heading up-river:


And one arriving from up-river with a load of Banans:

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One small boat hitching a ride with an empty barge heading up-river:


A different type of vessel seen at one of the yards:


A typical village along the lower part of the Mahakam:


A defunct Sawmill:


With an abandoned Long boat:


We have reach our destination. My "target" for the day was the blue LCT:


More on that in the "Details of ships and boats" thread.

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A Samarinda special. To repair or paint the bottom of a barge you just turn it over:

All done using ballast. It is quite a sight when the barge "flips over".

This barge has seen better days:


Another tanker heading up-river:


Wooden boats built along the lines of traditional Bugis Schooners:


A mix of new and old at the commercial wharf in Samarinda:

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Traditional Samarinda built LCTs are used for most things in the Mahakam Delta, from carrying supplies to more specialized functions in the oil and gas fields.

They are plentifully available:


Here is prime example of the large variety:


But one function that is seldom if ever used is the Bow Ramp. When working here in 2000 I tried to convince the involved that it made little sense to have a ramp when it was never used.
It looks like somebody actually listened, eventually:






Still known as a LCT though.

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Another port on the island of Borneo, but this time in Sarawak, East Malaysia. Port of Bintulu, which is a modern deep water port serving all types of ships, incl. LNG Carriers.

The Port Authority Building:


Oil Field supply base:


A view across the habour to the General Cargo wharfs:


LNG wharf:


Since Photography is strictly prohibited within the port area, I'll refrain from posting any more from the new port.

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A lot of the loading in Bintulu happen in open waters outside the port:

Log carriers are waiting off the river mouth for their cargo to be brought out on barges

The old port is inside a river with a very shallow bar at the entrance. Boats and barges are marshaling outside the bar on the rising tide, ready to enter as soon as the tide is high enough:


Usually they will start early and ground,waiting for enough water just sneak in:

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Here is a tug that has got his barge loaded a little too much:

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"Ranging" to try to break the suction:


That didn't work so a second and smaller barge is brought alongside to take some of the load:

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Now full power ahead as the tide peaked:


PS> These last pictures were taken from my hotel room window.

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I missed the moment when they got it loose, but here they are, inside the river:


Now it is time for empty barges to move out:




And then the river mouth is empty:

And the tide is falling.

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Some smaller boats is not tide dependent and can still operate, even at the lowest tide:

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Along the estuary the river bank on one side has been made into what you may call a "Board Walk":





This is reclaimed land and protected with stone to stop erosion.

A lot of the reclaimed land is still waiting to settle and vacant:

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This side canal looks like prime habitat for crocodiles and monitor lizards:

Swimming is not recommended.

In fact there is a lot of thing that is prohibited:

But swimming is not among them.

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Looks like somebody hung up a too heavy flag on one of these flag poles:


This old River Boat has seen better days. Now a not too well maintained exhibit in the river park:

No price for guessing what the extension over the stern were used for.

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Looked like somebody needed light bulbs and just helped themselves to what was available:

Not just one, every one I saw.

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Fishing boats of various sizes and types were still moving on the river:

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A lot of them were moored a bit up river, near the market:





I was surprised to see a couple of beat up steel hull trawlers among them. When we tried to introduce more modern boats and fishing methods in Malaysia back in the early 1990s the fishermen would not hear about steel hulls, because; "everybody knows that wood floats and steel sinks".