Sabah's Sea People
 their boats & their ships
Serious ships from the Sea People of Borneo's past
When the first European traders came to Southeast Asia more than five hundred years ago they discovered that the trading vessels, war ships and pirate ship of the region were of a class at least as good as their own. The struggle for sea power in this regions lasted well into the nineteenth century. 

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 One of the more spectacular ship designs was the lanong, a vessel that was made for long cruises. It was this ship that composed the flotillas that raided the Straits Settlements under the leadership of the Iranun (aka Illanun) of Tempasuk and Reteh. 

The length of these vessels averaged 80-90 feet, and the hull breadth 20 feet amidships. A dug-out keel formed the lower hull and sides built up of planks. The stern and bow were built up and overhung the keel. The lanong had one large mainsail forward and two tripod sheers that could be raised or lowered on a moment's notice.

These Illustrations of an Iranun lanong (with detailing left) and a merchant prahu (below) were done by the Spanish navy; c. 1800.
(Illustration courtesy of Museo Naval, Madrid, Spain, Rafael Mouleon, Construccíon Navales)

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Much of the lanong's main interior was occupied by a fighting platform and cabin. The latter served as the nakodah's quarters and as a powder magazine. The vessel depicted carried 34 oars a side; double-banked and steered with two rudders. Armament consisted of a strong bulwark at the bow, mounting a long gun or lantaka (6-24 pounder) as well as several swivel guns. Shields were fixed along the side of the platform, and many lanong carried a boarding bridge. The crew consisted of 150-200 men, with the warrior-sailors occupying the upper platform. A triangular flag of the commander was affixed to the stern.

As you can see from the drawing at right the merchant prahus of the day also had graceful lines and hulls built for speed. This tradition is retained with the Bugis schooners called "pinisi" that still operate commercially throughout the region.

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Many pinisi still operate with sail as their main means of propulsion and most still carry cargo around the Celebes and Sulu Seas but there is a trend toward using pinisi as live-aboard cruise boats and dive boats (as with Ombak Putih of Indonesia, shown at left).

In Kota Kinabalu we can book for a sunset cruise on the pinisi Matahari which sails around Sulug Island on many a pleasant evening.