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Jurong Island

geography Maturity 7-9 Next article →

Jurong Island is a massive industrial hub located southwest of Singapore's main island. It serves as the primary center for Singapore's energy and chemicals sectors. This island is not a single natural landmass. Instead, it was created through land reclamation. This process involves joining several smaller offshore islets together to create one large area.

Singapore - Jurong Islands 1945
Singapore - Jurong Islands 1945

Today, the island covers a total area of over 30 square kilometers. This makes it a vital part of Singapore's national infrastructure.

The transformation of the area began with a complex engineering project. In 1991, JTC Corporation was appointed as the agent for the Jurong Island project. They coordinated with government agencies to build necessary services and infrastructure. Physical land reclamation started in 1995. The project was a major success for the construction teams. Penta-Ocean Construction was the main contractor for the work. The reclamation was completed on 25 September 2009. This was nearly twenty years ahead of the original schedule.

Jurong Industrial Estate and Jurong Island, panorama, Nov 06
Jurong Industrial Estate and Jurong Island, panorama, Nov 06

Before it became an industrial powerhouse, the region had a very different character. In the early 19th century, entrepreneurs traded gambier in the area. A British surveyor named John Turnbull Thomson noted many Chinese and Malay villages there in 1848. Nearby islands like Pulau Ayer Chawan and Pulau Seraya hosted small fishing villages until the 1960s. Villagers lived in wooden stilt houses surrounded by palm trees. In the late 1960s, oil companies began planning facilities on these specific islands. By the 1980s, Singapore needed more industrial land because the mainland was becoming crowded.

Today, the island functions through a highly integrated system of chemical production. It is one of the top three oil refining centers in the world. Singapore has no domestic crude oil deposits. However, the island processes over 1.5 million barrels of oil every single day. Refineries turn this crude oil into petrol, kerosene, and jet fuel. Cracker plants are also used on the island. These plants break down molecules from substances like naphtha. This process creates additives for products like printer inks, semiconductors, and aircraft materials.

The island is filled with many different types of industrial clusters. These clusters include oil, gas, petrochemicals, and specialty chemicals. In 2005, the output for these chemicals totaled S$66.5 billion. This represented almost 32 percent of all production in Singapore's manufacturing sector. Many global companies operate here, such as ExxonMobil, Shell, and DuPont. These companies produce a huge variety of items. They make everything from automotive lubricants to polycarbonate resins for LCD TV panels. They even produce super-absorbent polymers used in diapers.

To keep everything running, the island uses a complex network of pipelines. These pipes allow different companies to share materials seamlessly. For example, one company can pipe chlorine directly to another to make polycarbonates. Different colors of pipes serve specific purposes. Red pipes carry water for firefighting. Green pipes carry sea water for cooling machines. Large silver pipes carry steam throughout the site. Small silver pipes are used to transport product lines.

Jurong Industrial Estate and Jurong Island, panorama, Nov 06
Jurong Industrial Estate and Jurong Island, panorama, Nov 06

The island also features the Pulau Seraya Power Station, which was Singapore's first offshore power station.

Security is extremely strict because the island is a Protected Place. This status was granted in October 2001 following the attacks in the United States. Only authorized staff and visitors with security passes can enter. The Singapore Armed Forces and the Police Coast Guard help protect the area. The Police Coast Guard conducts regular patrols to watch the surrounding waters. Visitors must also declare any photographic equipment. Taking unauthorized photos or videos can lead to arrest and the loss of entry permissions.

There are even massive storage facilities hidden beneath the sea. The Jurong Rock Caverns are located under the seabed of the Banyan Basin. Construction on these underground caverns began in 2007. They were designed to store crude oil, naphtha, and gas-oil. The first phase was completed in 2013 and officially opened in 2014. This phase provides a storage capacity of 1.47 million cubic meters. Engineers are currently exploring a second phase to add another 1.32 million cubic meters of space.

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File:Singapore - Jurong Islands 1945.jpg
Singapore - Jurong Islands 1945.jpg
File:Jurong Industrial Estate and Jurong Island, panorama, Nov 06.jpg
Jurong Industrial Estate and Jurong...
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