BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

Dr Wee Beng Geok is a former Associate Professor of Strategy and Management at Nanyang Techno- logical University. In 2000, she set up the Asian Busi- ness Case Centre, Nanyang Business School, and was its director for 15 years. She has also worked in the corporate sector, including more than a decade in Singapore’s marine industry.

Singapore has always been highly prized for its location. Fortuitously positioned at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, at a key crossroad along the East-West trade sroute, its importance as a port settlement can be traced to the 14th century when the island was known as Temasek. In 1819, the British arrived on the scene, and were quick to grasp Singapore’s potential as an entrepôt and a base to (Facing page top) A large crude carrier at Sembawang Shipyard’s new Premier Dock, a $50-million, 400,000- spread its version of merchant capitalism dwt drydock, at its official opening by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in May 1975. Ministry of Information in Southeast Asia. Land was leased from the and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. indigenous rulers to set up a British trading (Facing page bottom) Albert Dock was built by the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company in Tanjong Pagar in 1879. post on the island, and in a treaty signed in It was located to the east of Victoria Dock, the company’s first drydock which began operations in 1868. 1824, Singapore was ceded in full to Britain. Lim Kheng Chye Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. For the next 140 years, the British built insti- (Above) Rows of lighter boats at Boat Quay, 1890. These lighters transported coal from the coal-carrying tutions that would lay the foundations for ships anchored at the mouth of the Singapore River to be stored in godowns along the river banks. When the rise of a modern global city, including a the steamships arrived for refuelling, lighters would transport the coal out to the steamships. Courtesy of National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board. market infrastructure that took advantage The Story of of Singapore’s strategic position as a prime node in the global shipping routes. turn transported the coal to warehouses and several companies were willing to Two dockyard entities from the situated along the river bank for storage. take the risk. colonial period became precursors of Lighters then transported the coal out to well-known post-independence companies: the arriving steamships. It was a laborious Competition, Monopoly and a Keppel Shipyard and Sembawang Shipyard. process, made all the worse during stormy Government Takeover Two Shipyards Although the origins and legacies of these weather and choppy seas when the light- New Harbour was deemed a suitable two shipyards could not be more different, ers would sometimes capsize, resulting location for drydocking facilities. In 1859, Keppel & Sembawang their trajectories were shaped by the in tons of lost coal. Furthermore, stored British mariner Captain William Cloughton imperatives of the British Empire as well damp coal combusted easily and became built Singapore’s first drydock, aptly as an industrialising Britain that was at a constant fire hazard. named Dock No. 1, at New Harbour. Keppel and Sembawang shipyards are major players in Singapore’s maritime and shipping the forefront of major technological and In 1845, the Peninsular and Oriental The Patent Slip and Dock Company was industry. Wee Beng Geok traces the colonial origins of these two companies. business innovations. One shipyard had Steam Navigation Company (P&O) in subsequently formed in 1861 to assume purely commercial roots, while the other London began monthly sailings to the Far control of this ship repair facility. was a military naval base established to East, including a stop in Singapore. In 1852, In 1864, a group of investors decided protect British imperial interests in Asia. P&O became the first shipping company to build another drydock at New Harbour. to move its coaling stations from the Sin- To raise funds for the project, they set Early Dockyard Entrepreneurs gapore River to New Harbour (now Keppel up a joint-stock limited liability company The advent of steamships for sea transpor- Harbour3) where it built its own wharf. The – Tanjong Pagar Dock Company Limited tation in the 19th century drew entrepre- new location had a sheltered anchorage, (TPDC) – which became the first local neurs to invest in the ship repair business a pier for bunkering, as well as space for joint-stock company to offer shares to in Singapore. Although steamships were coal storage and godowns (warehouses). the public in Singapore. faster and more reliable compared with Other shipping firms followed suit and The TPDC initially hoped to raise wind-powered vessels, repairs to the New Harbour, with its deep waters, soon $200,000 in Singapore, with 2,000 shares of steamship hull – unlike sailing vessels – became the preferred berthing location $100 each available for purchase. However, could not be done by beaching the vessel1 for ships calling at Singapore. as not all shares were taken up by local but had to be carried out in a drydock.2 With increased steamship traffic, residents, the balance was sold to investors The use of steamships also required several Singapore-based British and Euro- in London. With a reasonably attractive divi- new logistical arrangements. Coal, the pean companies as well as residents dend policy, TPDC shares were considered energy source of steamships, had to be became keen to invest in the construc- a good investment by the 1870s. In subse- first transferred from coal-carrying ships tion of drydocks for ship repair. Although quent fundraising exercises, new shares anchored at the mouth of the Singa- considerable start-up capital was needed, were offered for sale at a premium, with pore River onto small lighters, which in the returns were projected to be good some bought by shareholders in London. 24 25 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

Victoria Dock, TPDC’s first drydock facilities became increasingly inadequate The SHB retained TPDC’s monopolistic (Left) When completed in 1938, King George VI Dock located on the western side of Tanjong to compete internationally and the com- ship repair business, and for the next five at the Singapore Naval Base in Sembawang was touted Pagar, started operations in 1868. With pany’s wharf system was under severe decades, it controlled the entire chain of as one of the largest naval docks ever built and capable the opening of this new dock, the Patent strain as no major improvements to its repair business at Keppel Harbour. With of accommodating the biggest ship in the world. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 14 Slip and Dock Company faced intense facilities had been carried out since 1885. its sizeable facilities, the SHB soon edged February 1938, p. 1. competition. It mounted a price war, This situation was exacerbated by out the smaller shipyards and engineering and TPDC was forced to cut its prices. differences with regard to capital spend- workshops in Tanjong Rhu and Kallang. (Below left) King George VI Dock under construction at the Singapore Naval Base, 1933. The National Although TPDC’s drydock business ing between the TPDC Board in Singapore This commanding position lulled the Archives of the UK (ADM195/106). faced losses as a result of this move, its and the London Consulting Committee in SHB to such complacency that by the wharf services still managed to turn in a Britain representing the company’s group end of the 1950s, capital investment had profit and became the company’s main of European and British shareholders.4 slowed down considerably and SHB’s costs prospect of a war with Japan, the income source. In March 1904, TPDC submitted and productivity began lagging behind completion of Sembawang Naval Base With the opening of the Suez Canal a $12-million modernisation plan to overseas dockyards like Hong Kong’s. became a priority for Britain. King George in 1869, more steamships called at Sin- upgrade and expand its facilities, including VI Dock was finally completed in early 1938 gapore and, by the following year, dock a proposed financing scheme. This was A New Naval Base in Asia and was touted as one of the largest naval operations had become profitable. In rejected by the company’s Europe-based After World War I, as the locus of naval docks ever built, capable of accommodating 1870, Patent built its second dock, Dock shareholders, who were concerned that power moved to the Pacific, the Board the biggest ship in the world. No. 2, at New Harbour. Nine years later, in the costs of financing the project would of Admiralty in London, as part of its ap- 1879, TPDC built another drydock, Albert “endanger a dividend of 12 per cent”.5 praisal of British naval policy, proposed The War Comes to Singapore Dock, located to the east of Victoria Dock, TPDC sought financial support from building a new naval base facility in Asia. In December 1941, as Japanese imperial to meet the growing demand. The TPDC the Straits Settlements government, In the light of the growing threat posed forces advanced into Singapore from Ma- began to acquire smaller rivals that owned but instead the government decided to by the Japanese military and rising inter- laya, Sembawang Naval Base came under docks and wharves at New Harbour, but expropriate the company’s assets and take national tensions, Britain grew anxious to heavy Japanese shell and mortar attack. who were less able to withstand the com- over the management of its operations. protect its empire in Asia, and Singapore Just before the British surrendered to petitive business environment. With the passing of the Tanjong was considered the most ideal location the Japanese on 15 February 1942, the Finally, in 1899, TPDC merged with its Pagar Dock Ordinance in April 1905, for its new naval base. retreating British naval personnel blew main rival, the New Harbour Dock Company TPDC became a government organisa- Although British naval ships had previ- up the drydock’s caisson and pumps as (in 1875, Patent Slip and Dock Company had tion known as the Tanjong Pagar Dock ously docked at SHB’s drydocks, the new well as its electrical generating plant. The incorporated itself into a public company Board. TPDC shareholders received from British battleships were too large to berth at intention was to prevent the Japanese bearing this name). With this acquisition, the government $761 for each $100 share these facilities as their anti-torpedo bulges from using the naval base. The Japanese TPDC came to control the entire shipping, – substantially higher than the $600 peak extended out on either side of the ship’s navy, however, managed to repair the dockyard and wharf business at New Har- reached by the share in the stock market. hull. Thus, Sungei Sembawang, facing the damaged facilities at Sembawang Naval bour, except for the P&O wharf. Singapore’s The board was reconstituted in 1913 as Johor Strait, was chosen as the new site to Base and used it to service its naval fleet port and its future prosperity rested heavily a statutory board known as Singapore construct the naval dockyard. Its strategic during the Japanese Occupation. on TPDC’s shoulders. Harbour Board (SHB). In the same year, the location as well as the deep waters of the As the tide of war turned in late 1944, Singapore’s port was the seventh SHB launched King’s Dock, the largest dock Johor Strait would provide good anchorage the naval base became the target of air largest in the world in 1904 but faced east of the Suez. In 1917, another drydock, for the naval fleet, bolstered by facilities raids by Allied Forces, and the dockyard strong overseas competition, especially Empire Dock, was completed. Port facilities such as onshore wharves and workshops. facilities suffered severe damage. When from the port in Hong Kong. TPDC’s port at Keppel Harbour were also enhanced. The Singapore Naval Base Scheme the British returned to Singapore following was announced to the British Parliament in the Japanese surrender in September This wood-engraved print shows the opening of Victoria Dock at New Harbour by then Governor Harry 1923. The plan was immediately met with 1945, they began repairing and upgrading St. George Ord on 17 October 1868. Courtesy of National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board. hostile reactions from the British public, the naval base facilities. By the end of who were weary of war and expected 1951, Sembawang Naval Base was back the government to improve their lives on its feet again. through more social spending. Although The postwar years leading up to the original plan was for the naval dock- when the incoming Labour government construction began with some 5,000 work- the 1960s were the most productive for yard in Singapore to be completed in 1930, blocked the funds that had been earmarked men and 100 British staff. Millions of feet the naval base. With British involvement the construction timeline was extended for the construction of the dock. When of soil were dug, and 1.6 million tons of in the Korean War in 1949 and other by another three years to avoid the imme- the Conservative government returned granite stone were brought in from Johor. regional conflicts, the dockyard serviced a diate need for heavy expenditure. The to power in late 1924, the Singapore Naval In the same year, a newly built floating wide range of naval vessels in the region, completion date of the naval dockyard Base Scheme was revived, but the construc- dock, with lifting capacity of 50,000 tons, including aircraft carriers, commando was thus pushed back to 1933. tion of the drydock was delayed yet again. was commissioned at Sembawang, and helicopter carriers, cruisers, destroyers, To appease its citizens back home, In mid-1926, the largest single con- a floating crane with a lifting capacity of frigates, submarines and minesweepers. Britain sought monetary contributions tribution of £2 million was received from 100 tons also arrived. from its Asian colonies to ease the funding the Federated Malay States. Then in April However, the building momentum Developing a Ship Repair Industry burden. In May 1923, Singapore made a 1927, New Zealand came forward with a almost ground to a halt when a new Singapore inched closer to independence gift of 2,845 acres of land for the naval commitment of £1 million to be disbursed Labour government came into power in from British rule when the first Legisla- base valued at about £150,000, or 1.25 over eight years. Britain in 1929. As the government was tive Assembly general election was held million Straits dollars. This was followed In 1928, the tender for the drydock unable to abort the project, it decided in 1959. The victorious People’s Action by a donation of £250,000 from the Hong and wharf construction in Sembawang was to slow down the pace of construction. Party which formed the government, was Kong government. Domestic issues in awarded to a South African company, Sir In 1931, the Japanese army invaded faced with bleak economic prospects and Britain in 1924, however, impeded progress John Jackson’s Ltd, for £3.7 million, and Manchuria. Faced with the looming severe unemployment, and its key priority 26 27 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

maritime and shipping industry. Recipients By the time Swan Hunter personnel of Keppel Offshore & Marine, one of the The first female apprentices at Sembawang Shipyard, 1970s. The shipyard set up its own apprenticeship DOCKYARD STRIKES training centre in 1972 to train a new generation of Singaporean engineers and managers, who would of various government and the Colombo left in 1978, almost all the managers in core businesses of conglomerate Keppel Plan scholarship schemes were among Sembawang were Singaporeans, except for Corporation. Keppel Shipyard has three The dockyards were not spared the eventually take over the reins from British managing agent, Swan Hunter. Image reproduced from Chew, M. (1998). Of Hearts and Minds: The Story of Sembawang Shipyard (p. 116). Singapore: Sembawang Shipyard the first generation of local engineers and the managing director C.N. Watson, who had yards in Singapore – Tuas, Benoi and Gul highly politicised labour movement that Pte Ltd. (Call no.: RSING 623.83 CHE). managers at the two shipyards. previously been with Keppel. Lim succeeded – which together operate five drydocks. swept through Singapore in the 1950s Before Swan Hunter’s managing Watson as managing director in 1983, thus Sembawang Shipyard was renamed and 60s. On 30 April 1955, around contract with Keppel ended in 1972, a completing the entire localisation process. Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard in 2015. 1,300 port workers employed by the group of Keppel’s key local officers drafted Over the next three decades, Keppel Today, it has five docks, the largest being Singapore Harbour Board (SHB) Staff a localisation plan and submitted the and Sembawang would emerge as major the 400,000-dwt Premier Dock, as well as Association went on strike for better blueprint to the chairman of the board. players in Singapore’s maritime and ship- KG VI Dock, which is one of the deepest in wages and working conditions. In June, The blueprint was accepted and a local ping industry as well as leaders in the Southeast Asia. Admiralty Yard is one of the strike found greater support when management team took over the shipyard global offshore rig construction business. the four major yards in Singapore operated unions representing 40,000 workers on 1 June 1972, helmed by its new chair- Today, Keppel Shipyard is a division by Sembcorp Marine Limited. in Singapore threatened to join their man, a prominent Eurasian named George shipyard counterparts. Bogaars. Chua Chor Teck, a former naval The strike ended on 6 July after A ship undergoing repair dockyard apprentice and naval architecture an agreement was reached between in Keppel Shipyard, graduate, was appointed general manager. the association and the SHB manage- c. early 1990s. Image Briton C.N. Watson of Swan Hunter was reproduced from Lim, R. ment. According to one estimate, retained as interim managing director until (1993).Tough Men, Bold the protracted negotiations over the 1974, when Chua took over. Visions: The Story of three-month period took up nearly Keppel (p. 65). Singapore: Keppel’s new management built a 100 hours, with the SHB forking out Keppel Corporation more than a century of commercial ship appointed as managing agent to help the 150,000-dwt drydock on reclaimed land at least $500,000 a year as a result of Limited. (Call no.: RSING repair experience, were restructured as shipyards build up their capabilities and in Tuas, and the new yard commenced 338.76238309 LIM). the wage increases it offered to the a separate business entity. In Septem- resources. These included the develop- business in June 1977 when the dock was striking workers. ber 1968, Keppel Shipyard Pte Ltd, with ment of international commercial and completed. In 1979, work on another dry- The government became con- shareholdings held by the Singapore marketing networks that were critical for dock for ultra-large crude carriers of up to cerned that labour activism could government, was incorporated to take success in the ship repair business. 330,000 dwt began at the Tuas shipyard. derail its efforts to commercialise the over SHB’s ship repair operations. The SHB By then, decades of monopolistic In 1980, Keppel Shipyard Limited dockyards. With the incorporation of ceased to exist. practices had made Singapore’s ship repair (KSL) shares were listed and traded on Keppel and Sembawang shipyards as After Singapore gained independence business uncompetitive. The same job that the Stock Exchange of Singapore, with the business entities in 1968, house unions in 1965, the British gradually reduced took 20 days to complete in Singapore launch of an initial public offering of 30 were set up to represent employees of its military presence in the region. The required a mere six days in Hong Kong. million shares at $3.30 each. Besides the each shipyard, with the hope of aligning formation of Sembawang Shipyard Pte Furthermore, charges were generally 15 Singapore government, KSL sharehold- the union’s objectives with that of the Ltd in 1968 was precipitated by Britain’s percent lower in Hong Kong compared ers included institutional investors and new business enterprise. surprise announcement in January that to Singapore. private individuals. year of an early withdrawal of its military One stumbling block was caused by Swan Hunter’s contract with Sem- forces in Singapore, including the closure Sembawang’s elaborate naval dockyard bawang Shipyard was for 10 years begin- was the creation of jobs for a young and of Sembawang Naval Base, by 1971. design. In comparison, commercial ning from 1968: the first three years to growing population. In June 1968, the Singapore govern- dockyards had compact designs, making commercialise the naval dockyard and In October 1960, a United Nations ment began the process of converting them more cost-efficient. New skillsets the subsequent seven years to transform Industrial Survey Mission led by Dutch the naval base into a government-linked and business processes in areas such it to a full-fledged ship repair enterprise. economist Albert Winsemius visited Sin- commercial entity known as Sembawang as international networks, marketing, In 1970, senior civil servant Pang gapore to conduct a feasibility study and Shipyard Pte Ltd. The shipyard began commercial estimating and billings had Tee Pow was appointed the board chair- NOTES REFERENCES provide advice on how to steer its fledgling operations in December the same year to be developed, as these capabilities had man of Sembawang Shipyard and Lim 1 “Beaching” refers to the act of laying the vessel Chew, M. (1998). Of hearts and minds: The story of economy. In the final report submitted in after the British government sold the naval not been the concerns of a naval dockyard. Cheng Pah, also from the public service, on its side on a beach to conduct hull repair and Sembawang Shipyard. Singapore: Sembawang June 1961, the team identified ship repair base to Singapore for a token sum of $1. Swan Hunter’s brief included training local became its first local senior manager. maintenance work. Shipyard Limited. (Call no.: RSING 623.83 CHE) 2 A drydock is a large dock from which water can Keppel Shipyard Limited [Advertisement]. (1980, and shipbuilding as a potential industry The assets of the naval base were valued managers and technical staff as well as As the director of personnel and train- be pumped out, and is used for repairing a ship October 27). The Straits Times, p. 15. Retrieved as it would take advantage of Singapore’s at £2 million and included a 100,000-dwt transferring essential skills and knowledge ing, Lim led the localisation initiative to below its waterline. Also sometimes referred to as from NewspaperSG a “graving dock”. Lim, R. (1993). Tough men, bold visions: The story of natural deep harbour and strategic location drydock, five floating docks, a mile-long to a new generation of Singaporean nurture and train local staff. In 1972, 3 New Harbour was renamed Keppel Harbour in 1900 Keppel. Singapore: Keppel Corporation Limited. (Call while providing employment to thousands. deepwater berthside, full cranage and 22 shipyard engineers and managers, who the year that Sembawang first began after Admiral Henry Keppel, who five decades earlier, no.: RSING q338.762383095957 LIM) In line with this vision, one of the govern- hectares of workshop facilities. would eventually take over the reins. commercial operations, the company in 1848, had sailed the naval ship HMS Meander McIntyre, W.D. (1979). The rise and fall of the Singapore into New Harbour for repair and was astonished to Naval Base 1919–1942. London: MacMillan. (Call no.: ment’s first moves was to restructure and The two shipyards set up their own achieved a revenue of $71.2 million, find deep water so close to the shore. He reported RSING 359.7 MAC) reorganise the ship repair operations of the A New Vision for Keppel apprenticeship training centres – Keppel with a profit of $15 million. This positive to the Board of Admiralty in London and then to the National Library Board. (2014). Formation of the Port SHB and Sembawang Naval Base. and Sembawang in 1969 and Sembawang in 1972. Many start gave Sembawang the confidence Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company of Singapore Authority 1st April 1964. Retrieved on the discovery of this deep harbour for steamships from HistorySG. A two-step process to restructure In 1968, Hon Sui Sen, then Chairman of young Singaporeans who completed these to seek public funds through an initial and its potential as a port. Neidpath, J. (1981). The Singapore Naval Base and the the SHB began in 1964. First, the Port of the Economic Development Board, was apprenticeship programmes formed the public offering on the Singapore Stock 4 TPDC’s Articles of Association gave veto rights to the defence of the Britain’s eastern empire, 1919–1941. Singapore Authority (PSA) was set up as a appointed the first chairman of both Kep- backbone of Singapore’s maritime industry Exchange in June 1973. The company London Consulting Committee (which functioned Oxford; New York: Clarendon Press. (Call no.: more like a London Board) for expenditures beyond RSING 359.7 NEI) statutory board to take over the functions, pel and Sembawang shipyards. His first in the 1980s and 90s. raised $51 million through the issue of $20,000. See Bogaars, G. (1956). The Tanjong Pagar Turnbull, C.M. (1989). A history of Singapore: 1819–1988 assets and liabilities of the SHB. The new priority was to transform the two shipyards Keppel and Sembawang shipyards 25 million shares at $2.04 each. In 1975, Dock Company, 1864–1905 (p. 171). Singapore: Govt. [2nd ed.]. Singapore: Oxford University Press. (Call entity would also manage port operations into for-profit business enterprises. The became major beneficiaries of scholarship a new and larger drydock catering to Print. Off. (Call no.: RCLOS 959.51 BOG) no.: RSING 959.57 TUR-[HIS]) 5 Bogaars, G. (1956). The Tanjong Pagar Dock and serve as the government port regulator. same year, British shipbuilding group, programmes aimed at nurturing local the repair market for very large crude Company, 1864–1905 (p. 223). Singapore: Govt. Print. Second, SHB’s dockyards, which had Swan Hunter of Tyneside, England, was talent to fill key positions in Singapore’s carriers was completed. Off. (Call no.: RCLOS 959.51 BOG) 28 29