In 1946 ordered the Dutch supreme commanding officer
in the Far East by order no. 62 to investigate the harbours including shipyards
in the Dutch East Indies and Netherlands New Guinea. In those so-called Sitraps
(Situation reports) was information collected dealing with the available
facilities, personnel and vessels/boats. The Dutch East Indies fell in Japanese
hands in the Second World War when the Dutch forces surrendered on 8 March 1942
until Japan surrendered on her turn on 15 August 1945. On 17 August 1945
declared nationalistic leaders like Soekarno and Hadda the independence of what
was called the Republik Indonesia. The result was a struggle for years before
the Netherlands forced by international pressure accepted the Indonesian
independence on 29 December 1949.
There was not a fishing fleet at Merauke. There were
just 5 trade prows used for maintaining the marine traffic between the coastal
villages around Merauke.
Source
Archive Dutch Marinestaf (1942) 1945-1948 inventory
number 195, National Archive, The Hague.
