Last night, I watched a good program in Channel NewsAsia, about great vessels built in Asia. It covered Hyundai Heavy Industries for their tankers, and the Phinisi ship, Indonesia’s very own traditional ship from Makassar. The Phinisi has been sailing the waters of Indonesia since early times. There is no record of the exact origin of the type. Many sources indicated that the Bugis people of South Sulawesi sailed to every corner of Indonesia (Java, Kalimantan, Aceh), Malay peninsula, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar, South Africa, and Sri Lanka.
The Phinisi
The Phinisi is truly the world’s heritage, considering that the design had been developed in early 15th century. Built by the Bugis Konjo people of Sulawesi, the majestic handmade ships have been sailed by the Bugis people for generations and are still being built in the same traditional fashion today. Used as cargo ships to transport merchandize between the islands, the Phinisis were the main mode of transportation for wood, spices and rice between the Indonesian islands, mostly in the eastern part of Indonesia.
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