We spent the day transiting the body of water between Sumatra and the peninsula of Malaysia on our way to Singapore. It was a day for presentations, to catch up on photos and journals from our excursions yesterday, and to look forward to tomorrow. Singapore is our destination, a major port and financial hub. Being one of the world’s largest commercial hubs and one of the five busiest ports, one would expect this to be a busy body of water. And busy it was.
Our constant companions in the Strait of Malacca were ships of various sizes and functions. We started with numerous small fishing boats. Some used nets, others traps, and even small boats with men using handlines ran the gauntlet of ship traffic. Then we start to get bigger. Mid-size regional ships carried everything from oil, to bulk, to containers, and the unknown. Where they came from and where they were headed was probably a list for to stump a geography class. And then there were the massive ships, some appearing the size of small towns. Container ships were stacked to the top, filled with merchandise heading around the world. Oil tankers constantly streamed by, typically laden traveling east and returning west empty. Equally impressive were the domes of the liquid natural gas containers looking a bit out of a sci-fi movie. All day long, we admired the volume of traffic passing through this important strait.
One exciting part of our day was a massive afternoon thunderstorm. While we enjoyed the comforts of National Geographic Orion, we passed through a tropical downpour filled with thunder and lightning. Particularly interesting was a huge waterspout that stirred the water and got some of us very excited. Luckily, it dissipated as we approached and we continued on our way to Singapore in complete comfort.
