YBDXC yb land dx club: Lighthouses of Indonesia: Riau Islands

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/idri.htm

Lighthouses of Indonesia: Riau Islands

Indonesia has been independent since 1945, after having been the Dutch East Indies for more than 350 years. It is a huge country, stretching along both sides of the Equator for more than 46 degrees of longitude (roughly 5100 km or 3200 miles). Comprised of some 17,000 islands (more than 6000 inhabited islands), it has hundreds of major aids to navigation. Unfortunately, we have no idea how many of these aids can be considered lighthouses. Information about them is scarce, and photos are even scarcer. Official light lists contain dozens of entries for "framework towers" and "white beacons," providing little guidance for the lighthouse fan. We need more more information and photos; if you know about lighthouses in Indonesia, please share that knowledge.
Indonesia's Riau Islands Province includes four groups of small islands located between Sumatra and Kalimantan (Borneo). The Riau group is south of Singapore and off the east coast of Sumatra; the Lingga group is farther south, straddling the Equator in the Karimata Strait; the Anambas group is in the South China Sea off the east coast of West Malaysia; and the Natuna group is also in the South China Sea northwest of Sarawak in East Malaysia. In all there are more than 3000 islands in the province.
The Indonesian word for a lighthouse is mercusuar. The phrase menara suar, which includes the Arabic word menara, is sometimes used instead. Tanjung andujung are words for capes, pulau is an island, selat is a strait, and teluk is a harbor.
Aids to navigation in Indonesia are operated and maintained by the Indonesian Directorate of Marine Navigation (Indomarinav).
ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume F of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.

General Sources Garis Depan Nusantara - Kepulauan Riau: Information on Indonesia's "border islands" in the Riau archipelago.
KITLV Beeldbank: Historic photos from the collection of the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies.

Pulau Tokong Nanas Light
anonymous Creative Commons photo
posted by Garis Depan Nusantara

Singapore Strait Lighthouses (see also Singapore)
Pulau Iyu Kecil (The Brothers) (2): Date unknown (station established 1906). Active; focal plane 41 m (135 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. 12 m (39 ft) tower with lantern and gallery. Lighthouse painted white. A closer view is available, but Google has only a fuzzy satellite view of the island. NGA lists a skeletal tower at this location. Located on an island at the western entrance to the Singapore Strait, about 8 km (5 mi) north of the northern tip of Pulau Karimun. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-072; Admiralty F1674; NGA 22584.
Southern Riau Archipelago Lighthouses
Merapas: Date unknown. Active; focal plane 121 m (397 ft); three white flashes every 5 s. 40 m (131 ft) skeletal tower, painted white. No photo available, and the island is only a blur in Google's satellite view. Located on an isolated island in the South China Sea about 25 km (15 mi) east of Pulau Bintan and 55 km (35 mi) southeast of Tanjung Berakit. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-168; Admiralty F1809; NGA 22694.
Pulau Mantang: Date unknown. Active; focal plane 62 m (203 ft); white flash every 3 s. 20 m (66 ft) skeletal tower, painted white. No photo available, and Google has only a distant satellite view of the location. Located at the southwestern tip of Pulau Mantang, a smaller island off the south coast of Pulau Bintan. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-219; Admiralty F1806; NGA 22672.
Tanjung Rambut: Date unknown. Active; focal plane 41 m (135 ft); three white flashes every 22 s. 40 m (131 ft) skeletal tower, painted white. No photo available, and Google's satellite view has no detail in this area. This lighthouse is located near the city of Tanjungbalai on Karimun, an island at the southwestern end of Singapore Strait. Located on the southeastern tip of the island; there should be a good view from fast ferries connecting Tanjungbalai with Singapore. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-323; Admiralty F1417.5; NGA 22588.
Pulau Terkulai: Date unknown. Active; focal plane 23 m (75 ft); white light, 2 s on, 2 s off. 20 m (66 ft) skeletal tower, painted white. No photo available, and Google has only a distant satellite view of the island. Located at the west end of Pulau Terkulai, about 12 km (7.5 mi) west southwest of Tanjung Rambut. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-253; Admiralty F1786; NGA 22652.
Jangkat: Date unknown. Active; focal plane 37 m (121 ft); white flash every 5 s. 30 m (98 ft) "white pyramidal tower," according to NGA. This might describe a tower similar to the Takong Kecil Light. No photo available, but Google has a distant satellite view. Located on an islet about 25 km (15 mi) east of Tanjung Rambut. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Admiralty F1694.6; NGA 22592.
Rukan Selatan (South Brother Island): 1911. Active; focal plane 70 m (230 ft); white flash every 5 s. 22 m (72 ft) skeletal tower, painted white. No current photo available, and the island is only a blur in Google's satellite view. This light guides vessels northbound toward Singapore as they approach the Riau Islands. Located on a small island at the southern edge of the Riau group, about 20 km (13 mi) east of Tanjungkilang. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-266; Admiralty F1428; NGA 22612.
Lingga Islands Lighthouse
Pulau Muci (Mutji): Date unknown (station established 1914). Active; focal plane 67 m (220 m); continuous white light. 21 m (69 ft) skeletal tower, painted white. No current photo available, and the island is only a blur in Google'ssatellite view. KITLV has a 1914 photo of a lighthouse, captioned as being on Singkep, that is believed to be a photo of this light. (There was no lighthouse on Singkep in 1914.) Located on a small island about 10 km (6 mi) west of Tanjung Sebayur on the west coast of Singkep. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Admiralty K0980; NGA 22724.
Pulau Berhala: Date unknown. Active; focal plane 25 m (82 ft); white light, 5 s on, 10 s off. 21 m (69 ft) cast iron skeletal tower, painted white. A good photo is available, and Tajri Dannur also has a photo, but the island is only a blur in Google's satellite view. Note: Berhala is a common place name in this area. There is another Pulau Berhala off northern Sumatra, and another off the coast of Sabah in East Malaysia. Jurisdiction over this Pulau Berhala is disputed between the Riau Islands province and the province of Jambi on the mainland of Sumatra. Located on a small island in the middle of the Berhala Strait, which separates the Linga Islands from the Sumatran mainland. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-111; Admiralty K0976; NGA 22728.
Anambas Islands Lighthouses
Malang Biru (Tokong Malangbiru): Date unknown. Active; focal plane 16 m (52 ft); white flash every 4 s. The original (?) lighthouse here is a tapered octagonal cancrete or masonry tower with gallery. The upper half was painted white and the lower half black. Another photo and a third photo are available. In the photos, the lighthouse appears abandoned, but there is no sign of a more recent light. NGA describes the current light only as a "white beacon." Malang Biru is an isolated rock about 65 km (40 mi) south southwest of the main Anambas group and 175 km (110 mi) northeast of Singapore Strait. Scuba diving tours to the island are available from Singapore. Located on the highest point of the island. Site status unknown. Admiralty F1831; NGA 21097.5.
Natuna Islands Lighthouses
Pulau Merundung: Date unknown. Active; focal plane 37 m (121 ft); three white flashes every 15 s. 30 m (98 ft) skeletal tower, painted white. No photo available, and the light is not visible in Google's distant satellite view. Located on a small island about 30 km (19 mi) northwest of the Kalimantan coast and about 60 km (38 mi) west of Tanjung Datu, Sarawak. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-012; Admiralty F1850; NGA 25100.
Pulau Murih (Muri Island): Date unknown (station established 1901). Active; focal plane 102 m (335 ft); white flash every 6 s. 20 m (66 ft) skeletal tower, painted white. No photo available, and the island shows only as a blur in Google'ssatellite view. Located on the westernmost of two small islands about 70 km (45 mi) northwest of the Kalimantan coast and about 50 km (30 mi) southwest of Pulau Merundung. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. ARLHS IDO-228; Admiralty F1854; NGA 25096.