A tribute to harbour engineer

KOCHI: The white square-tiled homey building at

Willingdon Island

, once the quarters to the chief engineers of Cochin Port, is now home to countless antiques ranging from multihued lighthouse lanterns to a mechanical calculator.

The museum set up in 2014 by the

Cochin Port Trust

, has on display relics found in the workshop which was under the ownership of the Cochin Port till recently. The workshop space is now used by the Cochin Shipyard for repair works.


Apart from workshop relics, the museum has dozens of photographs, some dating back to the 1920s. There are also rare shots of an elephant, a gift from Jawaharlal Nehru to the children of Russia, being loaded on to a ship at Mattancherry wharf. “The photographs, which were contributed by multiple sources and acquaintances, show the difficulties and complexities of building rails and bridges in those times when machineries were not common and almost all the work was carried out manually,” said the museum caretaker said.

The museum recently added to its collection, 25 rare images contributed by R Shivshankar, son of R T Ramachandra, the resident engineer in charge of bridge works for Cochin Harbour during the period 1936-40. “Many have come forward with offers to contribute photographs and documents after learning about the museum. Documents like the first sketches of Willingdon Island and the 1922 drawing brings out details of the landscape and features of the initial works in the port,” he added.

Objects of interest include parts of old ships and marine navigation instruments like a mechanical calculator which works without any external power source. Riveting tools used before the invention of welding, gas lanterns used as guiding lights in shipping channels, brass rudders used for turning a vessel are also on display.

Chappa, a coin-like metal piece thrown up by the port officials for random selection of labourers, an obnoxious practice, can also be seen in the museum. The day’s work was awarded to workers who got hold of the chappa first. Two cushioned wooden chairs, said to be used by Robert Bristow, the harbor engineer who developed Cochin Port, are also a part of the rare collection.


The park adjoining the museum has on display ‘Dorothy’, the boat in which Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and her sons traveled from Kottayam to Alleppey in 1952. The boat was also used by Mother Teresa in 1988.