Jurong Island

Coordinates: 1°16′0″N 103°41′45″E / 1.26667°N 103.69583°E / 1.26667; 103.69583
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Jurong Island
Jurong Island, photographed in February 2011
Jurong Island is located in Singapore
Jurong Island
Jurong Island
Location of Jurong Island within Singapore
Geography
LocationSoutheast Asia
Coordinates1°16′0″N 103°41′45″E / 1.26667°N 103.69583°E / 1.26667; 103.69583
ArchipelagoMalay Archipelago
Area32 km2 (12 sq mi)
Administration
RegionWest Region
Planning AreaWestern Islands
CDC
Town council
  • West Coast Town Council
Constituency
Member of Parliament
Map
Map of Jurong Island in Singapore

Jurong Island is an island located to the southwest of the main island of Singapore. It was formed from the amalgamation of seven offshore islands, the islands of Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Merlimau, Pulau Pesek, Pulau Pesek Kechil (also called Terumbu Pesek), Pulau Sakra (which was a previous merger of Pulau Sakra and Pulau Bakau), Pulau Seraya, Pulau Meskol, Pulau Mesemut Laut, Pulau Mesemut Darat and Anak Pulau. This was done through Singapore's land reclamation efforts. Land reclamation on Jurong Island was completed on 25 September 2009, 20 years earlier than scheduled. Pulau Buaya was joined to Jurong Island via reclamation in 2010. Jurong Island forms a land area of about 32 km2 (12 sq mi) from an initial area of less than 10 km2 (4 sq mi), and is the largest of Singapore's outlying islands.

History

Extract from Singapore Map - 1945

The island was previously a stop on a maritime trade route. Jurong Island used to be a maze of island hideouts frequented by raiding pirates. Later in the early 19th century, entrepreneurs trading gambier altered the area for large scale settlement. In 1848 a British surveyor, John Turnbull Thomson, mentioned there were numerous Chinese and Malay villages in Jurong.[1]

The outlying islands of

Malay-style wooden stilt houses on the palm-fringed islands. Between the late-1960s and early-1970s, three big oil companies planned to house their facilities on Pulau Ayer Chawan for Esso, Pulau Merlimau for Singapore Refinery Company and Pulau Pesek for Mobil
Oil.

The Government of Singapore then took the opportunity to grow the petrochemical industry to improve economic growth. It proved a success when the petroleum industry took off in the 1970s.

By the 1980s, after a decade of rapid

Singapore mainland
. The idea of joining the southern islands off Jurong to form one colossal island to create more industrial land was therefore conceived.

In 1991,

Jurong Town Corporation
) was appointed the agent of the Jurong Island project. JTC planned and coordinated with various government agencies in providing the necessary infrastructure and services to the island.

Physical land reclamation began in 1995, and Jurong Island was officially opened on 14 October 2000 by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.[2][3] From the 9.91 km2 land area of the original seven islets, as of completion of the land reclamation on 25 September 2009,[4][5] Jurong Island currently has a total land area of 30 km2. Penta-Ocean Construction was the major contractor and reclamation was completed 20 years ahead of schedule.[6]

Petrochemical industries

Today, Jurong Island is home to many companies such as

Chevron Phillips, Mitsui Elastomer, Baker Hughes and Sumitomo Chemical
.

Clusters of gigantic cylindrical tanks amid a maze of pipelines now dot the island; investment totalled

sanitary napkins
.

ExxonMobil, which has invested S$4 billion in a

furnishings. Afton Chemical is constructing a new manufacturing facility, expected to become operational in January 2016, to produce petroleum additives for the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets.[8]

Output for the chemicals cluster—which cover oil and gas, petrochemicals and

crude
deposits.

Jurong Island's refineries process 1,300,000

printer inks to plastic mouldings, semiconductors and aircraft
materials.

Apart from imported crude,

field arrives at Jurong Island via a 640 km undersea pipeline. Some of it is refined to provide a source of cleaner and cheaper fuel, while the rest is sent to crackers that make other petrochemical products. The country's first refilling station for compressed natural gas
(CNG) opened on Jurong Island in 2002. As most of the 2500+ cars running on CNG in Singapore are not allowed to enter the island because the drivers do not have the necessary security pass, four more CNG stations opened on the main island leading up to September 2009.

Jurong Industrial Estate. The Jurong Pier Flyover and the island of Pulau Damar Laut
, with Jurong Island Highway that leads to Jurong Island, can be seen on the left.

Security

Jurong Island was gazetted as a Protected Place in October 2001 following the September 11 attacks in the United States.[9] Access control is contracted to a private security company, while the Singapore Army helps to protect the island.[10] The Police Coast Guard also conducts regular patrols around the island to ensure no unauthorised vessels are allowed access within a restricted area of waters surrounding it.

Access to the island is limited to staff and visitors,[11] and they are issued with security passes. Other security restrictions include that any photographic equipment brought to the island must be declared. Without permission from Island Security it is forbidden to take photographs or videos on Jurong Island. Anyone getting caught taking pictures or videos is handed over to the police, and subsequently will have their Jurong Island pass confiscated and their permission to enter Jurong Island revoked.

Jurong Island and the southwestern waters were to be used for Exercise Northstar 8 from 21 November to 25 November 2011. However, Exercise Northstar 8 was only carried out on 25 November 2011 after 4pm at Jurong Island, up to 7.30pm.

Infrastructure

Jurong Island has two

Pulau Seraya Power Station, Singapore's first offshore power station, which was built in phases on the former Pulau Seraya since 1986. A 200 MW / 285 MWh lithium iron phosphate grid battery started in early 2023.[12]

The island has a network of pipelines that allows for seamless integration among companies. For example,

sea water for cooling. Huge silver pipes carry steam
, and small silver pipes bring product lines.

There are two major cargo jetties on Jurong Island, namely Sakra Jetty and Banyan Jetty. Sakra Jetty is managed and controlled by ExxonMobil.

Jurong Island is linked to the main island by a 2.3 km causeway known as the Jurong Island Highway, opened in March 1999, build by Hyundai Construction. Several public bus services run between Jurong Island and the mainland, operated by Woodlands Transport.[13]

Jurong Rock Caverns

Construction work on

condensates, naphtha and gas-oil, started on 8 February 2007. JTC Corporation has been appointed by the Singapore government to undertake the construction of JRC.[14]

Located beneath the seabed of Banyan Basin, off Jurong Island, JRC was completed in phases beginning in 2013, and was officially opened on 2 September 2014.[15] As a result of this first phase of work, the caverns reportedly have a storage capacity of 1.47 million cubic metres.[16] Phase 2, which has the potential to add another 1.32 million cubic metres, is being explored.

Plans

To raise its competitive edge, Singapore is moving to produce higher-value-added speciality products,[

A*STAR
research institute) has been set up on Jurong Island.

There have also been plans to build a second causeway to link the Western end of Jurong Island Highway with Gul Road in

Jurong Industrial Estate
on mainland Singapore, but these have been shelved. The investment earmarked for the second causeway has been re-allocated to the building of HDB flats at Western Water Catchment later in the decade.

Notes

  1. ^ "Jurong Heritage Trail" (PDF). National Heritage Board (Singapore). April 2015. pp. 1, 8. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Jurong Island is officially opened - Singapore History". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  3. ^ "Official Opening of Jurong Island". NAS. 14 October 2000. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Land reclamation completed for Jurong Island". Channelnewsasia.com. 2009-09-25. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
  5. ^ "Jurong Island Reclamation Completion Ceremony". MTI. 25 September 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  6. ^ "The island". The Oil & Gas Year. Archived from the original on 23 March 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  7. ^ "Jurong Island". JTC Corporation. Archived from the original on 2010-02-14. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  8. ^ "SINGAPORE: Afton Chemical starts building chemical additive plant on Jurong Island". Retrieved 2015-03-13.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "JTC Corporation - Overview". Archived from the original on 2009-09-18. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  10. MINDEF. 2007-10-31. Archived from the original
    on 2017-03-12.
  11. ^ "Jurong Island: Comprehensive Infrastructure". JTC Corporation. 2009-11-13. Archived from the original on 2009-09-18.
  12. ^ Colthorpe, Andy (2 February 2023). "Southeast Asia's biggest battery storage project officially opened in Singapore". Energy Storage News.
  13. ^ "Bus Services – Singapore | Land Transport Guru". 11 April 2013.
  14. ^ "Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Jurong Rock Cavern". NAS. 8 February 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  15. ^ "Five things to know about the Jurong Rock Caverns". The Straits Times. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  16. ^ Paul Jacob, "PM eyes S'pore-Saudi logistics tie-ups", The Sunday Times, 26 November 2006

References

Library resources about
Jurong Island
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jurong Island.
  • Today
    , 21 November 2006
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