The Stoomvaart Maatschappij “Nederland” (“Nederland”) was the Dutch mail-steamer company whose decision of 1903 to make the seaport of Sabang a fixed call brought Atjeh into regular connection with the mother country and with foreign countries — “de kroon op ‘t werk” (“the crown on the work”) of the harbour’s development in author Joh. Langhout’s judgement, and the company’s share in the economic development of the province.
The mail route over Sabang
In the chapter De Stoomvaart-Maatschappijen Langhout writes that the history of Atjeh proves that also and especially the Dutch steamship companies had a working share in the development of the province — quoting the Indische Gids of late 1922, in which the Sumatra-connoisseur Dr. Broersma excellently sets out how the shipping companies can advance the development of an island realm — and that the company “Nederland” here takes a first place: she “zette in 1903 de kroon op ‘t werk door te bepalen dat vanaf dat jaar de zeehaven ‘Sabang’ als vaste halte zou gelden” (“in 1903 set the crown on the work by determining that from that year the seaport Sabang would count as a fixed call”). Her mail steamers had, since September 1903, taken the route over Sabang and Singapore on the out- and home-voyages; the first mailboat, the Koning Willem III, had been festively piloted into the harbour on 29 September 1903 in the presence of Governor Van Heutsz (see Inauguration of the Sabang mail service (1903)).
Cooperation
“Een loffelijk blijk van medewerking” (“a laudable proof of cooperation”) was the company’s considerable lowering of her freight prices from the Netherlands to Sabang; the post offices at Sabang, Oelèë Lheue and Koeta Radja were accordingly enlarged and equipped for the full mail service. “Sindsdien is Sabang gegroeid”: the returning passenger ships from Holland every fortnight brought “een prettige drukte” (“a pleasant bustle”) to the beautiful Poelò We, and the still more frequent cargo vessels made Sabang an important shipping or transhipment harbour — photograph plates of the book show “De haven van Sabang, aan den steiger de ‘Riouw’ der Mij. Nederland” and “Sabangbaai met een aantal booten der Mij. Nederland” (“with a number of boats of the company Nederland”).
See Also
- Sabang
- Inauguration of the Sabang mail service (1903)
- Maatschappij Zeehaven en Kolenstation Sabang
- Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij
Source
Vijftig jaren economische staatkunde in Atjeh, by Joh. Langhout (The Hague: N.V. Boekhandel v/h W. P. van Stockum & Zoon, 1923), pp. 86–87, 154–155, 158, illustration captions pp. 139, 146–147.