Abstract
This article examines the influence of waters environment on the existence of Martapura port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. Martapura port is a port located on the banks of Martapura River, Banjarmasin. This port has been an essential trade center since the 17th century during the heyday of Banjar sultanate. The strategic port location along the riverbank that divides Banjarmasin makes Martapura port crowded and visited by sailors and traders from various islands and other regions in Indonesia, even from other countries. Through historical research methods consisting of heuristics, source criticism, interpretation, and historiography, this article reveals how the waters environment influenced the existence of Martapura port until finally the port had to be moved to a new location. The results emphasize that the narrowing Martapura river due to the development of economic centers and residential settlements in the form of floating houses on both sides of the river and also sedimentation in the estuary, caused disruption of the shipping lanes to the port and the silting of the turning basins. As a result, the waterway became narrow and large ships were no longer able to move into the port. Therefore, in 1961, the construction of a new port on the banks of Barito river began and since 1965 Martapura port has only been used for the activities of small wooden ships and sailboats.
Highlights
Martapura port, known as Banjarmasin port, is one of the most essential ports in South Kalimantan
Primary sources obtained through archival studies at National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia, Jakarta, and Lambung Mangkurat Museum Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan; while secondary sources obtained through library research on literature or scientific papers that relevant to the problem being discussed
The position of Martapura port is on the west bank of Martapura river, a tributary of Barito river
Summary
Known as Banjarmasin port, is one of the most essential ports in South Kalimantan. Along with the city development and the economic activities of its inhabitants, residential settlements and economic centers such as markets and shops have been developed on both sides of Martapura watershed [4]. It was inseparable from the existence of Martapura port as a center for the transportation of goods and passengers. The continued sedimentation in Barito river as the port entrance and the increasingly narrowing port shipping lanes prompted the Dutch colonial government to begin conducting research to explore port shipping lanes and new port locations. The function and existence of Martapura port had increasingly declined, until it was only used for the activities of wooden vessels with dead weights under 500 tons and inter-island sailboats
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