A Voyage of The Maritime Museum in Jakarta

As an archipelago, Indonesia has many sites that reserve the history of Indonesia's maritime affairs. Geographically, Indonesia is a country of two-thirds of the ocean area larger than land. One of the sites that hold the historical tales and the past fame of maritime defence is Maritime Museum or in Indonesian: Museum Bahari. Located in the old Sunda Kelapa harbour area in northern Jakarta, the museum was formerly the Dutch East India Company warehouse to store main commodities such as spices, coffee, tea, and so on.

This museum opens from Tuesday to Sunday and is closed on Monday. It opens from 9 am to 3 pm. The Maritime Museum has hundreds of collections, from original to replicas. It also has collections of original and replica ships such as the 16th century Batavia sailing ship, the VOC ship, the Phinisi Nusantara ship, and also from other countries. It's a great place to visit to learn about Indonesia's maritime.

History

The Maritime Museum was situated in former Dutch East India Company warehouses. The warehouses were built beside the mouth of the Ciliwung River, the main river of Jakarta. The warehouses were divided into two parts: Westzijdsche Pakhuizen or The West which was constructed gradually from 1652–1771 and Oostzijdsche Pakhuizen or The East. The west warehouse consists of four buildings. Three of them were used to store spices, coffee, tea and cloth before being shipped to Asia and Europe.

During the Japanese occupation, the warehouses were used as logistics storage for the Japanese army. After Indonesian independence, it was used as a warehouse for PLN and PTT. In 1976, the building was restored then inaugurated as a museum displaying the maritime history of Indonesia on 7 July 1977.

Collections

The museum concentrates on the maritime history of Indonesia. Some of the displays are Dutch East Indian ship models and cannons. There is also a scale model of the Onrust island which was the former shipyard for repairing the Dutch East Indian ships.

In the traditional sailing area, the museum maintains various ship models from the Indonesian Archipelago. A model of a Majapahit ship from ancient Java was also on display, based on the Borobudur ship described on the relief from the Borobudur temple. There are some particularly rare collections such as the Pinisi Nusantara ship, Lancang ship, and Gelati traditional boats. There is also an exhibition of shipbuilding tools as well as descriptions of the maritime traditions and folklore.

In the modern shipping area, the museum displays various navigational aids, Indonesian Navy maps, information about lighthouses and old pictures of voyages of the ship of K.P.M. The museum also shows a display of Biological Oceanography, the biodiversity of the coastal areas of Indonesia.

However, there was a horrible incident on the morning of 16 January 2018. A fire started at the museum and burned most of the building and its collections. The fire was put out at around 11 am.

As an archipelago, Indonesia has a long history of maritime events. The Maritime Museum will be a suitable place for us to visit if we want to learn more about Indonesian maritime. Check here for the location!