Hubby and I were part of the church's family outing. It was
a day's trip which consisted of a visit to the Tanjung Tualang Tin Dredge No. 5
(TT5) and ended with a lunch at one of the restaurant in Tanjung Tualang.
We reached at about 9.30 am.
Entrance fee - RM 5 for a senior citizen.
We were divided into 2 tour groups. Here we were waiting at the gate for the tour guide to take us on board the tin dredge ship (TT5).
Queuing up to collect the safety helmet to wear for our tour.
This is the end part of the tin dredge ship.
On the left is the front portion, and the end portion is on the right.
We walked on the orange bridge (left) to get on board the ship. In the old days, a boat will take them across the water onto the ship.
Access to the pontoon.
This tin dredge ship is like a floating factory. It weighs 4,500 tons and is supported by a pontoon of 75 meters in length, 35 meters in width and 3 meters in depth.
Parts of the interior of the dredge ship.
It was built in England in 1938 by F.W. Payne & Son. which was a major design engineering company in bucketline dredges.
Parts of the interior of the dredge ship.
The tin dredge works by scooping up bucket loads of tin-bearing soil at the front end, which then passes through an oscillating drum and a system of jigs and screens to extract the tin, before spewing out the waste material at the rear end through a number of chutes.
This dredge (TT5) was built for the Southern Malayan Tin Dredging Ltd, a company formed in 1926 which operated a further 5 dredges in the Batu Gajah and Tanjung Tualang area.
This is a close up of a dredge bucket.
TT5 was in operation for 44 years until 1982 by which time the Malaysian tin industry was in rapid decline due to a combination of exhausted tin deposits, low tin prices and high operating costs.
The orange arrow shows the row of dredge buckets.
All the tin mining and dredging activity which took place for over a hundred years has left behind many mining ponds down the length of Peninsular Malaysia.
The mining ponds or man made lakes are now filled with water and now serve their new roles as fishing ponds, wetlands, water features for housing developments and so on.
Safety first
Restoration works is on-going on board the dredge ship.
The 2 white chutes will spew the filtered tin ore into the metal drum.
A local movie which has some of the parts filmed on board this dredge ship.
Water from the next mining pond will be pumped into this pond to keep the dredge ship afloat.
Moving towards the end of the dredge ship.
This is the tail end of the dredge ship.
The worker's toilet is on the extreme left.
A close up of the worker's toilet.
There is no flush system here, everything goes into the pond!
The dredge ship is surrounded by water.
This is what is left of the boat that was used to ferry the workers onto the dredge ship.
Here ends our tour on the dredge ship.
I will share about the tin museum and gallery in my next post.
Flowers from my garden.
Single layer yellow hibiscus (top), Single layer petals Japanese rose (bottom left) and multi layer petal Japanese rose (right).
Even the wilderness and desert will rejoice in those days;
the desert will blossom with flowers.
Yes, there will b abundance of flowers and singing and joy!
The deserts will become as green as the Lebanon mountains,
as lovely as Mount Carmel's pastures and Sharon's meadows;
for the Lord will display his glory there, the excellency of our God.
(Isaiah 35:1-2, The Living Bible-TLB)
