Cargo Ships and the Dorey bay of Manokwari

Cargo ships and the scenery of Dorey bay are the photographs that I want to discuss with you here. This morning I walked to the ship harbor (haven) of Manokwari city. As the capital of (newly formed) West Papua province, this city is growing rapidly. Ships (general cargo, container ships and passenger ships) load and unload goods, containers and people every week.

 The jetty of Manokwari haven has been enlarged several times to provide more space for ships and containers. This harbor is located near the Governor's office and the building of house of representative of West Papua province.

While I was walking in the pier, I saw four sea going steel ships there but there were no activities of loading and unloading of containers. It was very quite with several people fishing near the ships at the end of the pier.
I am amazed by the view of the Arfak mountain. Using my Sony cyber-shot, a handy digital camera, I take some pictures of the morning scenery in the ship harbor of Manokwari. One ship crew seems to pay attention to what I was doing. When he saw that I was taking photographs of the surrounding view, especially the sea and the mountain, he left me.
To brighten the picture, I set the control dial of the camera to ISO mode.
Unfortunately, I did not see any PELNI passenger ships around. I hope that in my next visit to this ship harbor of Manokwari, I will be able to shoot some photos of PELNI passenger ships that transport passengers to and from this city. Right across the ship harbor, there is a PELNI office. There people can buy tickets if they want to sail to other towns in Papua or outside this island by PELNI's passenger ships.  by Charles Roring

Wooden Boats in the Dorey bay of Manokwari

Wooden boats, similar to modern seagoing steel ships, are used to transport goods and people from one port to another. In the Dorey bay of Manokwari city, I saw some traditional wooden boats in a small jetty in Anggrem area during my walking tour yesterday afternoon. The hull and superstructure of one of the boats are painted with white and yellow coatings. On the average, the boats are powered by 200 horse power marine diesel engine and conventional three or four blades propellers. I was able to climb its top deck and took some photos of other boats around the area. There was a steel ship belonged to the local government. I know that it has been used as ferry connecting small coastal villages in the northern region of Papua island. Although the boats were constructed using traditional tools, they are quite safe and stable to sail across the sea.

When we are talking about traditional wooden boats design and building in Papua, we cannot categorized them as cargo ships and passenger ships. The decks where cargoes are stored are also used to carry passengers. I am doubtful if the crews or operators of these boats provide life-jackets to all the passengers and crews on board.

I went there with a friend of mine. On the other side, I saw the former shipyard built by a Dutch shipbuilding company.  Formerly known as Manokwari Scheepswerf Konijnenburg. Now it is called Fasharkan (Fasilitas Pemeliharaan dan Perbaikan or the Facility for the Maintenance and Repair). I am sad to tell you that it not working anymore. The expensive slipway and the shipbuilding facilities left by the Dutch  are  not developed or operated by the Indonesian government anymore. 

We talked with the some of crews of the boats. I asked them how much does it cost to go from Manokwari to Wasior. They said the ticket is Rp. 100,000 or around 11.3 US dollars. I requested this information because I want to get the exact ticket price for Wasior. a small town which now becomes the capital of Wondama Bay Regency. This regency has a large sea area which has been preserved by the government as the National Marine Park of Cendrawasih bay, one of the best coral reefs and scuba diving sites in the world.

From Wasior, tourists or scuba divers can hire another boat or small outrigger boats to continue their trip to Auri islands where they can do snorkeling and scuba diving there.
Most of the big islands of Indonesian archipelago have their own techniques in building traditional wooden boats. In Maluku, a small village that is famous for building boats is Asilulu. In North Sulawesi, villagers of Tanawangko are expert in building big boats that can carry up to one hundred passengers and several tons of cargoes.