Tanjung Priok

During the colonial era, Batavia at first relied on the Sunda Kelapa harbor area. This meant that Batavia had a harbor system like many others cities. I.e. an anchorage at sea at some distance from the city, and a city harbor where smaller ships could attach to a quay. It meant that big ships like the Dutch East Indiamen and later ships safely anchored at some distance from Batavia, at what was called the 'harbor' of Batavia. Passengers and cargo then had to be trans-loaded on smaller ships, that would actually land these on one of the quays of Batavia.

The 'outer harbor' situation of Batavia became problematic when the natural harbor of Singapore became a competitor. In Singapore ocean-going ships could directly attach to a quay. The effect was that for many Dutch East-Indian commodities, it was cheaper to ship via the more distant harbor of Singapore. (At Batavia, a sea going ship from e.g. Surabaya, would have to unload its cargo into boats that sailed to a quay in Batavia proper. Later these boats would have to be used again to load the cargo into a ship to the Netherlands. The same ship could sail to Singapore, and directly unload at a quay. This eliminated the step to transload on boats.)

The goal of the Tanjung Priok harbor plans was to create a harbor where ocean-going ships could attach to a quay. The increased traffic which resulted from the opening of the Suez Canal contributed to these plans, but the rationale centered on eliminating the need for trans-loading. The effect would be that commodities produced in the Dutch East Indies could be brought to the Batavia warehouses more cheaply. This would put Batavia, and Dutch ships at a more equal foot to Singapore and English ships. In turn, scale effects, i.e. regular supply of cargo, would further redress the balance for Dutch shipping.

The construction of the new harbor was started in 1877 by Governor General Johan Wilhelm van Lansberge (1875–1881). The new harbor was named Tandjong Priok. The construction of the harbor was a major project.

Several facilities were built to support the function of the new harbor. Repair facilities were provided by Tanjung Priok Dock of 4,000 tons. A railway connection was established by building Tanjung Priuk Station (1914)[1] and connecting it to the existing rail network.