N.V. Zeehaven en Kolenstation Sabang was the limited company that built and operated the free port and coaling station of Sabang on Poeloe We. Incorporated in 1898 to take over the business of the Batavia firm De Lange, it ran the harbour under a privileged arrangement with the Netherlands Indies Government and grew into one of the most profitable bunkering enterprises in the East Indies.
Capital and relationship with the Government
The company was founded on a capital of f 3,000,000, of which f 2,500,000 was placed. It stood in a special relationship with the Netherlands Indies Government, which in return for the privileges granted enjoyed an annual share of the profits, regulated by Ordinance 1910 No. 56: the share was set at 5% of the dividend where the dividend reached 5% of the shares, 10% of the dividend between 5% and 10%, and 20% above 10%. In 1909 the Government purchased the greater part of the company’s quay walls, jetties and corps-morts for f 1,200,000 and thereafter maintained those works itself, while the company carried out necessary extensions on the Government’s behalf and paid an annual lease of 3.75% on the original purchase sum increased by the cost of extensions.
The coal business
The delivery of steam coal to ships was the most important branch of the company’s trade, for which it erected large and costly modern installations — among them a self-trimming bunker lighter with belt conveyor of about 150 tons an hour, a lighter with a grab crane of about 100 tons an hour, and several transborders. Coal deliveries rose from 19,000 tons in 1900 to a peak of 210,000 tons in 1912 and 1913, falling under the influence of the war to 135,000 tons by 1915. From the late 1890s the standard blend was the so-called “Sabang mixture” of Bengalese and Ombilin coal in a 2:1 ratio. Before the war the company held supply contracts with some 130 steamship companies. (For the operating context of these figures, see Sabang.)
Other installations and the dry dock
Beyond coaling, the company operated a 3,000-ton dry dock transferred to it by the Government, an ice factory, a gas factory, an electrically pumped water supply serving ships, oil tanks, locomotive cranes, slipways and a large construction and repair workshop capable of producing castings as large as bridge parts for Deli.
The Atjeh Transport Maatschappij
A daughter company, the Atjeh Transport Maatschappij, took over the prauw ferry and the warehouses at Oelèë Lheuë and, under Government supervision, held a privileged position in Government transport on the river — extending the Sabang concern’s reach to the mainland landing that linked the port to the Atjeh tram.
Dividends
The company’s standing is reflected in its dividends. On each f 1,000 share the profit and dividend ran: f 82.50 profit and f 32.50 dividend in 1910; f 100 and about f 50.77 in 1911; f 127 and f 115 in 1912; f 125.17 and f 75 in 1913; f 121 and f 50 in 1914; and f 100 profit with no dividend in 1915, the last reflecting the disruption of the war.
Account from De Buitenbezittingen (1917) — N.V. Zeehaven en Kolenstation Sabang
The N.V. Zeehaven en Kolenstation Sabang — usually called the Sabang Maatschappij — was the Dutch joint-stock company founded in 1898 to take over from the Bataviaasche firma De Lange & Co. the operation of the vrijhaven of Sabang on the island of Poeloe Wé, which van Heutsz had, in his 1892 brochure De Onderwerping van Atjeh, pressed upon the Government as a Dutch competitor to Penang for the trade of northern Sumatra. With a maatschappelijk kapitaal of ƒ2,500,000–ƒ3,000,000, the Maatschappij built, on the Noordbaai of Wé, the only vrijhaven of the Gouvernement Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden — a station that, despite never realising van Heutsz’s “grootsche toekomstdroomen” of an Atjehsche trade-emporium, paid steady dividends to its shareholders and became the principal bunkering-port of the eastern Indian Ocean.
Founding and the De Lange inheritance
The Dutch flag had been hoisted over Poeloe Wé in 1884, when a small kolenloods was built on the Zuidbaai (Lhoʼ Balohan) and a hoofd appointed. The 1887 commission under De Lange concluded that the Noordbaai — the Sabangbaai — was the more serviceable anchorage, and De Lange’s Chef, van Oosterzee, is named by De Buitenbezittingen as “den geestelijken vader van Sabang” — the spiritual father of Sabang. The Bataviaasche firma De Lange & Co. received that year the concession for a kolenstation, and in 1897 the haven was opened as a vrijhaven for general trade. In 1898 the N.V. Zeehaven en Kolenstation Sabang was founded, “welke het bedrijf van de firma de Lange overnam.” A Gouvernements-dok of 3,000-ton capacity (ten rechte 2,600 tons), stationed from 1898, later passed into the Maatschappij’s ownership “onder servituut van kosteloos dokken der Gouvts. vaartuigen.”
Outillage and operations
The Maatschappij held, by 1917, extensive mechanical installations for the bunkering of steamers — a self-trimming bunker-lichter with band-transporteur capable of handling 150 tons per hour, a lighter with gripper of 100 tons per hour, four transborkranen of 2,000–3,000 kg, and the 3,000-ton droogdok ceded in ownership by the Gouvernement. In 1903 the Stoomv. Mij. Nederland committed to routing via Sabang rather than Padang; the K.P.M. followed; and by 1911 the island possessed a radio-telegrafisch station described as “de krachtigste van heel Oost Azië.” A telegraafkabel had already, in 1897, connected Sabang with Oelèë Lheuë, and in 1912 a direct cable to Medan was added. A dochtermaatschappij — the Atjeh-transport-maatschappij — ran the prauw-ferry and warehouses at Oelèë Lheuë on a bevoorrechte positie.
Dividends and Gouvernements-verhouding
The Maatschappij stood in a bijzondere verhouding to the Gouvernement, which enjoyed a winstaandeel regulated by St. 1910 No. 56: 5% of the dividend on shares up to 5%, 10% between 5% and 10%, and 20% above 10%. In 1909 the Gouvernement acquired the kaaimuren, steigers, and corps-morts of the haven for roughly ƒ1,200,000 and now maintains them itself; the Maatschappij pays a yearly pacht of 3¼ % on the original purchase plus extension costs. The dividends on shares of ƒ1,000 tell the financial story: ƒ82.50 in 1910, ƒ100 in 1911, ƒ115 in 1912, ƒ125 in 1913, ƒ100 in 1914, ƒ100 in 1915. The kolenbedrijf grew from 19,000 tons delivered in 1900 to a peak of 210,000 tons in 1912–1913, before the war brought a drop to 135,000 tons in 1915.
Significance
Despite the failure of the original “illusie” of “grootsche concurrentie met Penang en Singapore,” De Buitenbezittingen credits the Maatschappij with having “in enkele jaren zijn eigen, belangrijke plaats in het handelsverkeer verworven.” As bunkering-station and transitohaven, Sabang had no real achterland of its own; the company’s future depended on the development of the Cultuurgebied of Sumatra’s Oostkust and the eventual completion of the Atjeh-tram connection to the Deli Spoorweg Maatschappij at Besitang.
See Also
- Sabang
- Poeloe We
- Atjeh Transport Maatschappij
- De Lange (firm)
- Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland
- Packet Service
- Poeloe Wé
- Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz
- Oelèë Lheuë
- Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij
- Atjeh-tram
- Penang
- 1884
- 1887
- 1892
- 1897
- 1898
- 1900
- 1903
- 1909
- 1910
- 1911
- 1912
- 1913
- 1914
- 1915
- 1917
Source
De Europeesche Industrie [“The European Industry”], section De Buitenbezittingen (“The Outer
Possessions”), in Grooten van Zee en Land in Nederlandsch-Indië, Vol. 6, pp. 243–246 (English
translation from the Dutch).
De Buitenbezittingen, Deel II, Aflevering 2: Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 15, 25–27, 243–248.
N.V. Zeehaven en Kolenstation Sabang was the limited company that built and operated the free port and coaling station of Sabang on Poeloe We. Incorporated in 1898 to take over the business of the Batavia firm De Lange, it ran the harbour under a privileged arrangement with the Netherlands Indies Government and grew into one of the most profitable bunkering enterprises in the East Indies.
Capital and relationship with the Government
The company was founded on a capital of f 3,000,000, of which f 2,500,000 was placed. It stood in a special relationship with the Netherlands Indies Government, which in return for the privileges granted enjoyed an annual share of the profits, regulated by Ordinance 1910 No. 56: the share was set at 5% of the dividend where the dividend reached 5% of the shares, 10% of the dividend between 5% and 10%, and 20% above 10%. In 1909 the Government purchased the greater part of the company’s quay walls, jetties and corps-morts for f 1,200,000 and thereafter maintained those works itself, while the company carried out necessary extensions on the Government’s behalf and paid an annual lease of 3.75% on the original purchase sum increased by the cost of extensions.
The coal business
The delivery of steam coal to ships was the most important branch of the company’s trade, for which it erected large and costly modern installations — among them a self-trimming bunker lighter with belt conveyor of about 150 tons an hour, a lighter with a grab crane of about 100 tons an hour, and several transborders. Coal deliveries rose from 19,000 tons in 1900 to a peak of 210,000 tons in 1912 and 1913, falling under the influence of the war to 135,000 tons by 1915. From the late 1890s the standard blend was the so-called “Sabang mixture” of Bengalese and Ombilin coal in a 2:1 ratio. Before the war the company held supply contracts with some 130 steamship companies. (For the operating context of these figures, see Sabang.)
Other installations and the dry dock
Beyond coaling, the company operated a 3,000-ton dry dock transferred to it by the Government, an ice factory, a gas factory, an electrically pumped water supply serving ships, oil tanks, locomotive cranes, slipways and a large construction and repair workshop capable of producing castings as large as bridge parts for Deli.
The Atjeh Transport Maatschappij
A daughter company, the Atjeh Transport Maatschappij, took over the prauw ferry and the warehouses at Oelèë Lheuë and, under Government supervision, held a privileged position in Government transport on the river — extending the Sabang concern’s reach to the mainland landing that linked the port to the Atjeh tram.
Dividends
The company’s standing is reflected in its dividends. On each f 1,000 share the profit and dividend ran: f 82.50 profit and f 32.50 dividend in 1910; f 100 and about f 50.77 in 1911; f 127 and f 115 in 1912; f 125.17 and f 75 in 1913; f 121 and f 50 in 1914; and f 100 profit with no dividend in 1915, the last reflecting the disruption of the war.
Account from De Buitenbezittingen (1917) — N.V. Zeehaven en Kolenstation Sabang
The N.V. Zeehaven en Kolenstation Sabang — usually called the Sabang Maatschappij — was the Dutch joint-stock company founded in 1898 to take over from the Bataviaasche firma De Lange & Co. the operation of the vrijhaven of Sabang on the island of Poeloe Wé, which van Heutsz had, in his 1892 brochure De Onderwerping van Atjeh, pressed upon the Government as a Dutch competitor to Penang for the trade of northern Sumatra. With a maatschappelijk kapitaal of ƒ2,500,000–ƒ3,000,000, the Maatschappij built, on the Noordbaai of Wé, the only vrijhaven of the Gouvernement Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden — a station that, despite never realising van Heutsz’s “grootsche toekomstdroomen” of an Atjehsche trade-emporium, paid steady dividends to its shareholders and became the principal bunkering-port of the eastern Indian Ocean.
Founding and the De Lange inheritance
The Dutch flag had been hoisted over Poeloe Wé in 1884, when a small kolenloods was built on the Zuidbaai (Lhoʼ Balohan) and a hoofd appointed. The 1887 commission under De Lange concluded that the Noordbaai — the Sabangbaai — was the more serviceable anchorage, and De Lange’s Chef, van Oosterzee, is named by De Buitenbezittingen as “den geestelijken vader van Sabang” — the spiritual father of Sabang. The Bataviaasche firma De Lange & Co. received that year the concession for a kolenstation, and in 1897 the haven was opened as a vrijhaven for general trade. In 1898 the N.V. Zeehaven en Kolenstation Sabang was founded, “welke het bedrijf van de firma de Lange overnam.” A Gouvernements-dok of 3,000-ton capacity (ten rechte 2,600 tons), stationed from 1898, later passed into the Maatschappij’s ownership “onder servituut van kosteloos dokken der Gouvts. vaartuigen.”
Outillage and operations
The Maatschappij held, by 1917, extensive mechanical installations for the bunkering of steamers — a self-trimming bunker-lichter with band-transporteur capable of handling 150 tons per hour, a lighter with gripper of 100 tons per hour, four transborkranen of 2,000–3,000 kg, and the 3,000-ton droogdok ceded in ownership by the Gouvernement. In 1903 the Stoomv. Mij. Nederland committed to routing via Sabang rather than Padang; the K.P.M. followed; and by 1911 the island possessed a radio-telegrafisch station described as “de krachtigste van heel Oost Azië.” A telegraafkabel had already, in 1897, connected Sabang with Oelèë Lheuë, and in 1912 a direct cable to Medan was added. A dochtermaatschappij — the Atjeh-transport-maatschappij — ran the prauw-ferry and warehouses at Oelèë Lheuë on a bevoorrechte positie.
Dividends and Gouvernements-verhouding
The Maatschappij stood in a bijzondere verhouding to the Gouvernement, which enjoyed a winstaandeel regulated by St. 1910 No. 56: 5% of the dividend on shares up to 5%, 10% between 5% and 10%, and 20% above 10%. In 1909 the Gouvernement acquired the kaaimuren, steigers, and corps-morts of the haven for roughly ƒ1,200,000 and now maintains them itself; the Maatschappij pays a yearly pacht of 3¼ % on the original purchase plus extension costs. The dividends on shares of ƒ1,000 tell the financial story: ƒ82.50 in 1910, ƒ100 in 1911, ƒ115 in 1912, ƒ125 in 1913, ƒ100 in 1914, ƒ100 in 1915. The kolenbedrijf grew from 19,000 tons delivered in 1900 to a peak of 210,000 tons in 1912–1913, before the war brought a drop to 135,000 tons in 1915.
Significance
Despite the failure of the original “illusie” of “grootsche concurrentie met Penang en Singapore,” De Buitenbezittingen credits the Maatschappij with having “in enkele jaren zijn eigen, belangrijke plaats in het handelsverkeer verworven.” As bunkering-station and transitohaven, Sabang had no real achterland of its own; the company’s future depended on the development of the Cultuurgebied of Sumatra’s Oostkust and the eventual completion of the Atjeh-tram connection to the Deli Spoorweg Maatschappij at Besitang.
See Also
- Sabang
- Poeloe We
- Atjeh Transport Maatschappij
- De Lange (firm)
- Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland
- Packet Service
- Poeloe Wé
- Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz
- Oelèë Lheuë
- Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij
- Atjeh-tram
- Penang
- 1884
- 1887
- 1892
- 1897
- 1898
- 1900
- 1903
- 1909
- 1910
- 1911
- 1912
- 1913
- 1914
- 1915
- 1917
Source
De Europeesche Industrie [“The European Industry”], section De Buitenbezittingen (“The Outer
Possessions”), in Grooten van Zee en Land in Nederlandsch-Indië, Vol. 6, pp. 243–246 (English
translation from the Dutch).
De Buitenbezittingen, Deel II, Aflevering 2: Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 15, 25–27, 243–248.