Keppel Harbour (; ms, Pelabuhan Keppel), also called the Keppel Channel and formerly New Harbour, is a stretch of water in

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, borde ...

between the mainland and the southern islands of

Pulau Brani Pulau Brani is an island located off the southern coast of Singapore, near Keppel Harbour. The island is situated between the main island of Singapore and the resort island of Sentosa, and is linked to the mainland via Brani Terminal Avenue. The a ...

and

Sentosa Sentosa Island, known mononymously as Sentosa, and formerly ''Pulau Belakang Mati'', is an island located off the southern coast of Singapore's main island. The island is separated from the main island of Singapore by a channel of water, the K ...

(formerly Pulau Blakang Mati). Its naturally sheltered and deep waters was to meet the requirements of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

colonists attempting to establish a

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

maritime colony in that part of the world, thereby setting the stage for the eventual formation of

as a successful independent state.

Etymology and history

The harbour was first noticed in August 1819 by

William Farquhar William Farquhar ( ; 26 February 1774 – 11 May 1839) was a Scottish colonial administrator employed by the East India Company, who served as the sixth Resident of Malacca between 1813 and 1818, and the first Resident of Singapore between ...

, who reported his discovery of a "new harbour" inhabited by ''

orang laut The Orang Laut are several seafaring ethnic groups and tribes living around Singapore, peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian Riau Islands. The Orang Laut are commonly identified as the Orang Seletar from the Straits of Johor, but the term may ...

'' ("sea people") living in boats to

Sir Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is b ...

the following month. In the 1830s, the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...

, consisting of

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...

and

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, 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 ...

, was a

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s' haven. By 1832, Singapore had become the busy centre of government for the three areas. It was also at this time that Captain

Henry Keppel Admiral of the Fleet The Honourable Sir Henry Keppel (14 June 1809 – 17 January 1904) was a Royal Navy officer. His first command was largely spent off the coast of Spain, which was then in the midst of the First Carlist War. As commanding off ...

came to Singapore and helped to clear the Straits of

s. Whilst based at Singapore, he discovered the deep water anchorage that came to be called by his name. Keppel first sailed to Singapore as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

in 1832 and took part in the Naning (

) expedition, and came again later in 1842 to help with the suppression of piracy in the

Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago (Indonesian/Malay: , tgl, Kapuluang Malay) is the archipelago between mainland Indochina and Australia. It has also been called the " Malay world," "Nusantara", "East Indies", Indo-Australian Archipelago, Spices Archipe ...

. Keppel had a long association with Singapore, having visited the island on several occasions up to 1903. He

survey Survey may refer to: Statistics and human research * Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population * Survey (human research), including opinion polls Spatial measurement * Surveying, the techniq ...

ed the new harbour of Singapore, which was formed based on his plans. The harbour was completed in 1886. In 1855, Captain William Cloughton, William Paterson and William Wemyss Ker purchased Pantai Chermin from

Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim Raja Temenggong Tun Daeng Ibrahim bin Temenggong Daeng Abdul Rahman (8 December 1810 – 31 January 1862) was the Temenggong of Johor and later the ''de facto'' Maharaja of Johor from 1855 to 1862. Biography Early life Daeng Ibrahim was born ...

, the

Temenggong of Johor The Temenggong of Johor is one of the members of the Orang Kaya Council first established by Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah himself. The first Temenggong being appointed in 1757 was Temenggong Abdul Jamal. The Temenggong of Johor was given the task of ...

. In 1859, Cloughton built the first

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

known as Number 1 Dock. In 1868, the second dock, Victoria Dock, was inaugurated by Sir Harry George Ord,

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 ...

. The Albert Dock was opened in 1879. Pulau Blakang Mati 1945 map

For a while, the harbour was simply known as New Harbour but it was renamed Keppel Harbour in honour of Admiral Keppel, who was instrumental in clearing the straits of pirates, by the Acting Governor, Sir

James Alexander Swettenham Sir James Alexander Swettenham (1846 – 19 April 1933) was a British colonial administrator who was Governor of British Guiana (1901–1904) and Governor of Jamaica (1904–1907). Early life Alexander was born the son of James Oldham Swette ...

, on 19 April 1900. New Harbour Road was also renamed Keppel Road. The

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

names for Keppel Road and Keppel Harbour were ''sin kam kong chu u'' or "Kampong Bahru dock", and ''sek lat moi'' or "''selat'' passage" (''selat'' is

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

for

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...

s).

HarbourFront and Keppel Harbour, panorama, Aug 06

Plans

Singapore's largest conglomerate, the

Keppel Corporation Keppel Corporation (also known as Keppel Corp) is a Singaporean conglomerate headquartered in Keppel Bay Tower, HarbourFront. The company consists of several affiliated businesses that specialises in offshore & marine, property, infrastructure ...

, has announced plans to build exclusive

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

s on the 5.3

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

Keppel Island Keppel Island ( es, Isla de la Vigia) is one of the Falkland Islands, lying between Saunders and Pebble islands, and near Golding Island to the north of West Falkland on Keppel Sound. It has an area of and its highest point, Mt. Keppel, is hi ...

that it owns in Keppel Bay at Keppel Harbour — home to a

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

until 2000.Joyce Teo, "Keppel to build more waterfront homes", ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...

'', 22 November 2006 ≥ The group has launched a

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Daniel Libeskind Daniel Libeskind (born May 12, 1946) is a Polish–American architect, artist, professor and set designer. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect. He is known for the design a ...

, who is designing the masterplan for

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

ground zero In relation to nuclear explosions and other large bombs, ground zero (also called surface zero) is the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation. In the case of an explosion above the ground, ''ground zero'' is the point on the ground ...

site. The 1,200-unit waterfront condominium — known as ''Keppel Bay phase two'' — was launched in early 2007. It sits on about 84,000 square metres of land on the mainland opposite Keppel Island, with a

shoreline A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

of 750 metres. It has six high-rise blocks and spacious low-rise

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

s. The condominium is part of the Keppel Bay mega development, which is 70 per cent owned by

Keppel Corp Keppel Limited, previously Keppel Corporation (or Keppel Corp) is a Singaporean conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Keppel Bay Tower, HarbourFront. The company consists of several affiliated businesses that specialises in prop ...

and 30 per cent by its unit

Keppel Land Keppel Corporation (also known as Keppel Corp) is a Singaporean conglomerate headquartered in Keppel Bay Tower, HarbourFront. The company consists of several affiliated businesses that specialises in offshore & marine, property, infrastructure ...

. About 2,800 homes are set to be built, including the existing 969-unit ''Caribbean at Keppel Bay''. The most exclusive homes of the lot are reserved for Keppel Island, where the ''Marina@Keppel Bay'', a separate development, was completed in late 2007. The

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

will have high-end

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s and tentative plans are for high-end villas and possible condominium units on the island. A 250-metre

Keppel Bay Bridge The Keppel Bay Bridge (Chinese: 吉宝湾桥, ms, Jambatan Teluk Keppel) is the longest cable-stayed bridge in Singapore along Keppel Bay Vista, spanning 250 metres across the strait linking the private Keppel Island to mainland. The bridge was of ...

, a

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern o ...

links Keppel Island to the mainland. Keppel also has two other smaller plots for condominium on the other side of the ''Caribbean''. Corals condominium is located beside ''Caribbean'', just beside King's Dock (Second largest dock in the world since 20 August 1923) with 366 units. One is 3.4 ha in size while the other, a joint venture with Mapletree, is 2.9 ha. Keppel Harbour, panorama, Aug 06

References

* Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2004), ''Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names'', Eastern University Press, {{coord, 1, 16, N, 103, 50, E, region:SG_type:waterbody, display=title Ports and harbours of Singapore