pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Penang International Airport Penang International Airport is an airport in northern Malaysia. The airport is located near Bayan Lepas at the southeastern tip of Penang Island, south of the city centre.Weld Quay, has hosted warships as well. Navy ships from several nations, including

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, have berthed at the pier in the past.

History

Japanese submarine I-10 at Penang port in 1942

Towards the end of the 19th century, as maritime traffic into the

Port of Penang 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 ...

continued to increase and railway lines in the Malay Peninsula were being built, the expansion of the

Port of Penang 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 ...

became crucial. The construction of Swettenham Pier, undertaken by engineers Coude, Sons and Matthews, commenced in 1901. Upon its completion in 1904, the T-shaped

pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

provided of wharfage. Originally, the pier was known as the Iron Pier'''. It was subsequently renamed Swettenham Pier, in honour of

Frank Swettenham Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham (28 March 1850 – 11 June 1946) was a British colonial administrator who became the first Resident general of the Federated Malay States, which brought the Malay states of Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and ...

, the then

Governor of the Straits Settlements The governor of the Straits Settlements was appointed by the British East India Company until 1867, when the Straits Settlements became a Crown colony. Thereafter the governor was appointed by the Colonial Office. The position existed from 1826 ...

. Swettenham Pier's initial capacity proved insufficient. In 1911, the pier was extended by to the north and to the south, bringing the overall length of the pier to . Between 1942 and 1944, at the height of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the pier was used as a submarine base by the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

navies. Up until the late 1960s, steamers and other cargo vessels with a draft of up to 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. 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 A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...

, was completed in 2009. 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''. In 2017, Swettenham Pier overtook

Port Klang Port Klang ( ms, Pelabuhan Klang) is a town and the main gateway by sea into Malaysia. Known during colonial times as Port Swettenham ( ms, Pelabuhan Swettenham) but renamed Port Klang in July 1972, it is the largest port in the country. It is l ...

as the busiest cruise shipping harbour in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Plans have also been drawn up for the expansion of Swettenham Pier in the near future to accommodate larger cruise ships.

Operational statistics

References

{{Reflist

External links

Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal
Ports and harbours of Malaysia Ports and harbours of the Indian Ocean Buildings and structures in George Town, Penang Transport in Penang

History

Operational statistics

See also

References

External links