Carries | Cruise vessels |
---|---|
Spans | Penang Strait |
Locale | George Town, Penang |
Owner | Penang Port Commission |
Maintained by | Penang Port Commission |
Characteristics | |
Construction | Coude, Sons & Matthews |
Total length | 400 m (1,300 ft) [1] |
History | |
Opening date | 1904 |
Coordinates | 5°25′08″N100°20′47″E / 5.418933°N 100.346329°E |
Location within George Town, Penang | |
Type | Cultural |
Criteria | ii, iii, iv |
Designated | 2008 (32nd session) |
Reference no. | 1223 |
Region | Asia-Pacific |
Swettenham Pier is a pier within the city of George Town in Penang, Malaysia. Established in 1904, it is the busiest port-of-call in Malaysia for cruise shipping. [2] [3] The pier plays a vital role as a major entry point for tourists into Penang, aside from the Penang International Airport and land connections. [4] [5]
Other than cruise shipping, Swettenham Pier, located at Weld Quay, has hosted warships as well. Navy ships from several nations, including Singapore, Thailand and the United States, have berthed at the pier in the past. [6] [7] [8]
Towards the end of the 19th century, as maritime traffic into the Port of Penang continued to increase and railway lines in the Malay Peninsula were being built, the expansion of the Port of Penang became crucial. [2] The construction of Swettenham Pier, undertaken by engineers Coude, Sons and Matthews, commenced in 1901. Upon its completion in 1904, the T-shaped pier provided 600 ft (180 m) of wharfage.
Originally, the pier was known as the 'Iron Pier'. It was subsequently renamed Swettenham Pier, in honour of Frank Swettenham, the then Governor of the Straits Settlements.
Swettenham Pier's initial capacity proved insufficient. In 1911, the pier was extended by 345 ft (105 m) to the north and 255 ft (78 m) to the south, bringing the overall length of the pier to 1,200 ft (370 m). [2]
Between 1942 and 1944, at the height of World War II, the pier was used as a submarine base by the Japanese, German and Italian navies. [9] [10]
Up until the late 1960s, steamers and other cargo vessels with a draft of up to 27 ft (8.2 m) used to dock at Swettenham Pier. The pier's heyday was abruptly ended, however, with the revocation of George Town's free port status by the Malaysian federal government in 1969. [11] [12] [13] [14]
In the early 2000s, Swettenham Pier was upgraded into a cruise shipping terminal. The Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal, with a new three-storey building and an aerobridge, was completed in 2009. [1] [15] George Town's cruise tourism industry has been booming ever since, with Swettenham Pier soon attracting cruise ships of increasing size, such as the RMS Queen Mary 2 . [16] In 2017, Swettenham Pier overtook Port Klang as the busiest cruise shipping harbour in Malaysia. [3]
Plans have also been drawn up for the expansion of Swettenham Pier in the near future to accommodate larger cruise ships. [17] [18]
Year | Number of vessels | Number of passengers (millions) |
---|---|---|
2013 | 2,094 [19] | 1.29 [15] |
2014 | 2,201 [19] | 1.22 [19] |
2015 | 2,308 [19] | 1.16 [19] |
2016 | N/A | 1.02 [20] |
2017 [21] | N/A | 1.35 [22] |
Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. These two halves are connected by the Penang Bridge and the Second Penang Bridge; the latter is also the second longest sea crossing in Southeast Asia. The state shares borders with Kedah to the north and east, and Perak to the south.
George Town is the capital of the Malaysian state of Penang and the core city of the George Town Conurbation, Malaysia's second largest metropolitan area with a population of 2.83 million. The city proper covers an area of 306 km2 (118 sq mi) and was home to a population of 794,313 as of 2020.
Port Klang is a town and the main gateway by sea into Malaysia. Known during colonial times as Port Swettenham but renamed Port Klang in July 1972, it is the largest port in the country. It is located about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) southwest of the town of Klang, and 38 kilometres (24 mi) southwest of Kuala Lumpur.
Butterworth is the largest urban town in the city of Seberang Perai, Penang, Malaysia. It lies about 3 km (1.9 mi) east of George Town, the capital city of Penang, across the Penang Strait. As of 2021, Butterworth has a total population of 107,591 residents.
Seberang Perai is a city in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is situated on the Malay Peninsula opposite Penang Island, bordering Kedah to the north and east and Perak to the south. Its city centre is located in Butterworth, while its local authority, the Seberang Perai City Council, is centred near Bukit Mertajam. As of 2020, Seberang Perai had a population of 946,000, making it the third most populous city in Malaysia.
This article lists important figures and events in Malaysian public affairs during the year 2006, together with births and deaths of notable Malaysians.
The Penang Strait is an 11 kilometre-wide strait that separates Penang Island from mainland Malay Peninsula. Penang Island is to the west of the channel, while Seberang Perai, the mainland half of the State of Penang, is to the east. The northern and southern ends of the channel join the Strait of Malacca, one of the world's busiest maritime routes.
The State of Penang in Malaysia, home to the country's second largest city as well as part of Malaysia's second most populous conurbation, has a relatively well-developed transport infrastructure. The city-state is well-connected by land, air and sea; the Penang International Airport is one of Malaysia's busiest, while the Port of Penang is the main harbour and transshipment hub within northern Malaysia. The North–South Expressway, the main highway along western Peninsular Malaysia, runs through Penang, while the two geographically separate halves of the state are now linked by two bridges and a ferry service.
The North-East District is a district within the Malaysian state of Penang. The district covers the northeastern half of Penang Island, including the centre of George Town, Penang's capital city. It has an area of 122.79 km2 (47.41 sq mi) and a population of 510,996 as of 2010. The district borders the South-West District (Penang)|South-West District to the south-west.
This article lists important figures and events in Malaysian public affairs during the year 2008, together with the deaths of notable Malaysians.
The Greater Penang Conurbation, also known as the George Town Conurbation, is the built-up urban or metropolitan area within and around the Malaysian state of Penang. Encompassing the entire State of Penang, and parts of the neighbouring states of Kedah and Perak, the conurbation was home to over 2.83 million people as of 2020, the second largest in the country after the Klang Valley.
Glenn Marine Group is a Singapore-based supplier of maritime services including naval logistics and the operation of shore-base support including cruise terminals and port-operations.
Padang Kota is a state constituency in Penang, Malaysia, that has been represented in the Penang State Legislative Assembly since 1974. It covers George Town's historic city centre, including its old administrative core and the central business district (CBD) at Beach Street.
George Town, the capital city of the State of Penang, is the second largest city in Malaysia and the economic centre of the country's northern region. The history of George Town began with its establishment by Captain Francis Light of the British East India Company in 1786. Founded as a free port, George Town became the first British settlement in Southeast Asia and prospered in the 19th century as one of the vital British entrepôts within the region. It briefly became the capital of the Straits Settlements, a British crown colony which also consisted of Singapore and Malacca.
M Mall O2O is a shopping mall in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Opened in 2015, it forms part of the Penang Times Square at Dato Keramat Road.
The Port of Penang is a deepwater seaport within the Malaysian state of Penang. It consists of terminals along the Penang Strait, including five in Seberang Perai and one in George Town. The Port of Penang was the third busiest harbour in Malaysia in terms of cargo as of 2017, handling 1.52 million TEUs of cargo, as well as the busiest port-of-call within the country for cruise shipping.
Tranquility, previously known as Equanimity, is a 91.50 m (300.2 ft) superyacht launched at the Oceanco yard in Alblasserdam, with Oceanco responsible for the exterior design, while Winch Design worked on the interior. The yacht was allegedly purchased by Malaysian financier Jho Low using money stolen from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB. It was seized by the Malaysian authorities in 2018, judicially sold to the Genting Group in early 2019, and renamed Tranquility.
Central George Town is the downtown core and political centre of the city of George Town. It corresponds to the eponymous mukim of George Town, which is mostly identical to the original city limits established when George Town was granted city status in 1957.
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