During my two months in Labuan Bajo I got up early almost every day, usually by 5:30, to walk down through its busy port. There we boarded the dive boat and headed off on the long trip to Komodo National Park for a day of diving. There were plenty of interesting boats and scenes to photograph in the port area, but no time to do so on a normal day – so I finally took a day off from the dive operation to do some visual exploration along the wharf and docks.
The port’s main wharf is about 800 feet (250 meters) long – this is the where the larger ships tie up. These freighters, smallish container ships, and ferries are usually there for a short stay – three or four of them at a time, loading and unloading as quickly as possible and then moving on. A host of local fishing boats and diving/tourist boats tied up along the smaller piers connecting the wharf to the small town.
On my day off I wanted to see if I could get onto some of the larger boats – it’s always fun to get behind the scenes and come away with interesting shots. I was lucky that day – every time I asked to board one of the larger ships I got a friendly welcome. First up was a large fishing boat with a bright green hull and a hold with live bait fish swimming around – then a wide wooden freighter unloading a hull full of ramen packages – then a container ship on which I was able to climb up several stories to its high bridge for a good view of its crane operation and the surrounding town – and then a small freighter that takes on passengers on its coastal routes (last week’s post was about this boat, the Nadelyn K). I also checked out a big yard where containers were stacked high like building blocks. A big loading machine raced around, a big claw on the end of its long hydraulic arm holding containers and placing them into position in the well-organized stacks.
Most ships were easy to get aboard except for the container ship – to board that one I had to climb up a rope ladder hanging down the ship’s tall steel hull. Once aboard the boats I was pretty much free to wander and shoot interesting things and people. I love getting into places that are not normally accessible – a construction site, a factory, a work shop, or some remote wilderness setting. It’s about curiosity, and also about getting unique shots. Finding points of view and scenes that make great photographs is like looking for a four-leaf clover – you look and look and look – at the light, the compositions, the positioning of people, their movements and expressions – for that shot that can be visually mesmerizing and worth sharing.
There could be a hundred or more of these small tourist boats tied up along the docks leading to the main wharf – and there are many more moored in the harbor. During the high tourist season they’re busy taking travelers out to the islands of Komodo National Park.
The boats often have narrow tall profiles that seem to be typical for the region, but were unusual to me. Our own dive boat, the Lumba Lumba, was large and tall – and in heavy winds it occasionally leaned over so far everyone would pause and look at each other – and maybe say a little prayer.
This small fishing boat had a tall up-swept bow, and an impressively glossy new paint job. I loved watching the reflections shimmer off the shiny surfaces.
Men using simple lines and hooks to fish along the edge of the main wharf.
This pair of fishing boats had unusual hulls. I wondered what the material was – it made me think of concrete hulls, but perhaps it was fiberglass covering wood.
I got on the larger of the fishing boats and looked around at its various compartments and holds. Everything on these boats was well-worn – the winches and lines and tubs. One of the holds had hundreds of bait fish that were swimming around – they looked like miniature sharks.
There seemed to be more cooking equipment on this bridge than navigational gear. The wheel, the engine throttles, and a GPS device – that was about it. There was a large rice cooker to the left!
There were a couple of crew on board. Nothing much to do in port other than looking after things.
A hold full of concrete on one of the large freighters – with a bright yellow crane for loading and unloading.
The Citra Nusantara Indah is a broad-beamed wooden freight boat that was unloading a hull full of ramen packages. Trucks line up to take them on.
It was a hot day, and this man unloading ramen from the hold of the Citra Nusantara Indah was looking pretty fatigued.
The towering hull of a container ship, the Mentari Nusantara, next to the sharp bow of a small wooden boat – Labuan Bajo’s port was a jumble of activity.
I was able to climb up to the tall bridge of the Mentari Nusantara to get a view higher than anything in town. The impressive crane was lifting and swinging containers into its hold from trucks on the wharf. The offset position of the crane, on the side of the ship, was interesting – it must be balanced in some way with weight on the other side of the hull.
While containers are being loaded and unloaded there is downtime for most of the crew. This man perched on a bollard.
The base of the Mentari Nusantara’s crane was impressive, dominating the ship and the wharf. The man standing on the container on the left was rigging the lifting lines from the crane.
The man rigging the lines from the Mentari Nusantara’s red crane onto the containers.
On a different day our dive boat passed a sister ship to the Mentari Nusantara, the Mentari Persada, at anchor just outside the port. Both container ships were waiting in the soft early morning light to get into port.
The purple-hulled Nadelyn K is in the center, tied at the wharf ahead of the Citra Nusantara Indah and behind the Mentari Nusantara. I did a separate post on the Nadelyn K, a freighter that takes on passengers. The small dingy is in one of two large water surfaces enclosed by the piers.
A yard for stacking the containers sits adjacent to the wharf and connecting piers. Some of them appear to be used for long-term storage of various materials.
A big crane machine zips around the container yard. Its big claw, on the end of a long hydraulic arm, clamps onto the tops of the containers.
A group of men taking a break from moving metal rods stored in one of the containers in the port’s yard. It was a hot day.
