Inventory of wooden ship materials and determination of its alternative materials through wood properties approach: case studies in the Riau Islands, the Northern and Southern Coast of Java

Abstract

Indonesia is an archipelago country with approximately two-thirds of its territory consisting of oceans, so that inter-islands transportation has become one of the most important economic aspects. Traditional wooden ships are commonly used by local people in the coastal areas for transportation to support their needs. Several wood species which have high durability are commonly used for making wooden ship component such as Eusideroxylon zwageri (ulin), Vitex sp. (laban), Tectona grandis (teak), and Instia bijuga (merbau). This study aims to determine the alternative materials for wooden ship based on inventory at the Riau islands, the Northern and Southern Coast of Java. Exploring the alternative materials for wooden ship is important to optimize the utilization of lesser- and least-known timbers and address the problem of decreasing supply of major commercial timbers. This study has identified many wood species used by coastal fishermen for making wooden ship. Identification of wood species was carried out using microscopic observation based on IAWA standard, while the determination of alternative materials was undertaken through wood properties approach. The results show that there were various wood species used as raw materials for ship components. Some identified wood species are Tectona grandis (teak), Shorea sp. (balau and light-red meranti), Dichrostachys cinerea (pung), Ormosia subseraceae (kupang), Lumnitzera littorea (teruntum), Alseodaphne sp. (medang). Several alternative wood species to substitute current materials are elaborated in the paper.