Ships past Kampong Ayer

I was passing by Kampong Ayer the other day and I remembered when I was a small boy, there used to be ships passing by the Kampong Ayer houses. That was when the Bandar Wharf is being used as the main port for Brunei. But in those days what looked like big ships were actually relatively small ships. Bigger ships could not make it into the Brunei river, dropping anchor at Sapo Point and having tugboats bring their cargo in.

When HMS Britannia bringing Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, the ship dropped anchor at Dato Gandhi because that was about the deepest part of the river that the ship can go into. You can still see the place and many who do not know the history would be wondering why there is a nice roof covered wharf by the riverside at Kampong Dato Gandhi.

When the Muara Deep Sea Water Port (it was originally called Deep Sea Water Port or Pelabuhan Air Dalam Muara, today it is only known as Muara Port) opened in 1970, the Brunei Wharf Port was used for local ships only. But by now, the only big ships passing by is the large barges carrying gravel to the landing sites at Kampong Medewa. This too will be gone soon when the landing site will be moved elsewhere.

This postcard is what it must have looked like in those days when big ships passed through Kampong Ayer.