Until 16th Century
As any other maritime country in the world, shipbuilding in Indonesia started with the building of wooden conoes/praus and later developed to building wooden sailing boats. This can be observed by the sailing ship relief stone wall of the famous 8 th century Borobudur temple in Central Java.
According to historians, Indonesian traders using sailing ships had been trading in South east Asian waters since early history and also to India and China, and even the sailed as for as to east African coast (Madagascar island) and to Central Pacific islands.
16th - 20th Century
The exploration of western nations using sailing ships to various parts of the world, including Indonesia, first for purposes and later for colonization, had hampered the development of Indonesian shipbuilding. Many restrictions were imposed upon colonized countries.
During that period of time, shipbuilding technology underwent significant development in Europe particularly with the change of wood material to steel and propulsion-by-sail to engine and propeller. But such development could not be experienced by Indonesian shipbuilding industry and the remained a backward industry producing wooden ship with their traditional building method.
In the 19th and 20th century, modern steel shipbuilding industry was introduced to Indonesia, but only by the establishment of shiprepairing yards, while building of new ship were executed in European shipyards. Educational institutions institutions in the field of shipbuilding technology were non-existent in Indonesia.
World War II
During Japanese occupation of Indonesia in World War II (1942-1945), the Japanese military government, making use of the aboundant supply of teak wood on Java island, built hundreds of modern motorized wooden cargo ships of about 300-400 T size along the northern coast of Java island. Engines were produced at machinery factories in Central and East Java. The ships were used to carry logistic supply for their war machine and were sailing in For Eastern, South-east Asian and South-western Pacific war zones.
During that time, a shipbuilding technical high school was established in Semarang, Central Java and this could be recorded as the first educational institution in modern shipbuilding technology in Indonesia.
Since Independence in 1945
1945 - 1960
After the national independence, proclaimed in 1945 and recognized in 1945 and recognized in 1949, some Indonesion nationals established a steel shipyard in 1951 (Carya Shipyard, Jakarta) and started to build steel ships up to 500 DWT size. Although this shipyard was small in size, the establishment was a milestone in the history of Indonesian Shipbuilding industry.
In the years 1950-1955, many Indonesian students were sent to foreign countries to study science and technology, including modern naval architecture and marine engineering a.o. to Netherland, England, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Yugoslavia, Poland, Russia and Japan. The first group of graduates returned to Indonesia in 1957.
In 1960, due to Indonesia-Dutch political conflict, all Dutch companies, including dockyards, were nationalized by Indonesia government and become state companies.
They were then modernized and additional facilities, machineries and equipment were fitted to make them possessing the capability to build new ships. Those companies were :
Since then, many new shipyards were established by the government and private sector as well; a..o.:
To meet the changing business situation and to upgrade capability to enter the international market, in 1979 and 1992, the government reorganized by merging state shipyards and dockyards located in the western part of Indonesia (Pakin, Alir Menjaya, Koja, Dok Priok, Pelita Bahari (IPPA) into one company named Dok Kodja Bahari (DKB Shipyard). DKB Shipyard�s head office is in Jakarta with yards located in Sabang (North Sumatra), Padang (West Sumatra), Palembang (South Sumatra), Banjarmasin (South Kalimantan), Jakarta (4 yards), Cirebon (West Java) and Semarang (Central Java).
PAL Indonesia Shipyard was established on the former location of naval shipyard in Surabaya and wos designed to become the most advanced and modern shipyard in Indonesia, capable of building/repairing larger size merchant ships, naval vessels, special type ships and marine offshore structures. The shipyard was also planned to be engaged in the production of marine engines and machinery, equipment and components.
The agreement between the government of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore on joint regional development had established The SUORI (Singapore, Johar, Riau) Regional Development Area with special trade arrangement a.o. exemption of import fax & valve added fax.
Since 1990, on Batam and Karimun islands of Indonesia, more than 20 joint venture and domestic shipyards were established, mostly affiliated with Singapore shipyards, Facilities include 60.000 T floating docks, 7.000 T synchrolift. Ships of up to 8.000 DWT had been built during the past years. It is expected that more facilities will be built in the near future. Main shipyards on Batam-Karimun island are :
Planning, Supervision & Support to the Shipbuilding Industry
For the first time, Indonesia had a government department with a division in charge of planning and supervision of the shipbuilding industry e.g. the Shipbuilding Industry Division, Department of Shipping.
The division was later fransferred to the Department of Industry & Trade and is now under theDirectorate General of Basic Metal, Machinery, Electronic and Multivarious Industries.
A Faculty of Ocean Engineering was founded at the Surabaya Institute of Technology and became the first higher educational institution in Indonesia for the study of naval architecture, marine engineering and marine offshore technology. In the years between 1960-1990, many state and private universities established their Faculties of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering a.o. :
To survey and class the expanding Indonesia fleet, Indonesia foundled its own ship classification society named Biro Klasifikasi Indonesia (BKI). It was the first classification bureau in the Asean region. At present about 3.000.000 T of ships had been classed to BKI.
Joint efforts were made to develop shipbuilding technology and industry in Indonesia to enhance the national development. Indonesia enterprises engaged in shipbuilding industry founded the marine industry association, named : Ikatan Perusahaan Industri Kapal dan Sarana Lepas Pantai Indonesia (Indonesia Shipbuilding & Offshore Industries Association), better known in Indonesia as (IPERINDO, IPERINDO's activities cover 4 sectors e.g. shipbuilding & repairing, production of marine-related material/machineries/equipment, marine off-shore structure construction and marine survey/inspection/consultancy service.
To support and increase the stength of the Indonesia fleet, the government established a fleet development financing corporation called PT. Pengembangan Armada Niaga Nasional Multi Finance (National Merchant Fleet Development Multi Finance Corporation / PT. PANN MF) The Corporation has the task to extend financial assistance to shipping companies in acquiring new as well as second hand ships with easier terms of payment, giving priority and first choice in the building of new ships and repairing ships at domestic yards.
Since its foundation PT. PANN MF had been in charge of building serial cargo and semi-container ships at domestic yards (6 units of 750 DWT, 3 units of 950 DWT and 32 units of 3.600 DWT) At present, PT. PANN MF has a fleet of 60 ships, which were leased on a hire-purchase contract to shipping companies.
To contibute to the development of shipbuilding and maritime technology, Indonesia experts, engineers and professionals founded the Himpunan Ahli Teknologi Maritim Indonesia/HATMI (The Society of Indonesian Maritime Engineers) which can be said to be equivalent to The Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers or SNAME in foreign countries. HATMI has now about 600 members.
After about 8 years of preparatory works of design and construction, finally in 1995, Indonesia succeeded to inaugurate its shipbuilding experimental test tank and research center in Surabaya, East Java, named Laboratorium Hidrodinomika Indonesia/LHI (Indonesian Hydrodynamic Laboratory). LHI has the following facilities:
LHI is the largest known hydrodynamic research laboratory in the southern hemisphere. It is hoped that LHI would contribute to the development of science and technology at national and international level, particularly in the shipbuilding field.