Orembai or Arombai is a type of plank boat from the Maluku Islands of Eastern Indonesia. It is mainly used for fishing and transport. This vessel is used as far as Batavia, where in the 17th century it became popular to go out " orembaaien" on an evening rowing on the river or city canals.
Etymology
The name
orembai or
arumbai probably comes from the adapted
Malay language word
rembaya, which means state ship, with Portuguese prefix 'o'.
In other variants of language they are also called
orembaai,
arambaai,
arobail,
arubai,
arubaillo,
arumbai,
arumbae,
oranbai,
oranbaik, orang-bays, and
corambay.
[Friederici, G. "Beitrage zur Volker und Sprachenkunde von Deutsch-Neuguinea." Mitteil. aus den Deutsch. Schutzgeb., Erganzungsheft Nr. 5, 1912.] Martin says that the name
orembai is a contraction for
orang baik ("good man") and comes from the era of the Hongi voyages, i.e. these boats are the opposite of
Hongitocht kora kora, which is a war vessel.
Description
It is characterized by being equal-ended, with the prow and the stern both rising up abruptly into a sharp point about from the ground, giving it a crescent shape. It is widest at the middle, tapering gradually towards both ends. It usually has three
attached to a narrow keel which in turn is joined to a stem-post at each end.
The stempost is broader and lower than the sternpost. Traditional orembai uses the
Tanja sail or
Lete sail sail, but more modern orembai adopted European-style rigging, such as
pinisi rig and
schooner rig.
Orembai is built using planks, joined with
lashed-lug construction.
The orembai is very similar to the mon of the Solomon Islands. It also resembles the kora kora, but differs in that, like most large Austronesian ships, the orembai does not have outrigger boat (likely due to their inherent stability).
Gallery
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Het zeilschip Helena Anna aan de mond van de Riou-Apa in de Orembaai West-Ceram Molukken TMnr 10010876.jpg|A "modern" orembai, West Seram, Moluccas. Before 1923.
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM S.S. Camphuys aan de steiger op de rede in de Orembaai van Ternate TMnr 10010599.jpg|A traditional orembai with lowered sail (either a tanja or lete/crab claw sail), Ternate. Between 1910 and 1930
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Ceram orembai met bemanning bij Roemahkai TMnr 10010582.jpg|A small orembai with a crab claw sail in Rumahkay, Seram Island
File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Zeilschip waarmee de bestuursambtenaar zijn reizen maakt in de Orembaai in Ceram Molukken TMnr 10010873.jpg|Dutch-owned orembai, Seram, Moluccas, ca. 1925
See also
