Muara Besar Island

About

Muara Besar Island (Malay: Pulau Muara Besar, Abbrev: PMB) is an island in Mukim Serasa, Brunei–Muara District, Brunei. As part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China invested in the Hengyi Industries refinery and petrochemical complex on the island through the Zhejiang Hengyi Group. The development also includes deep-sea port facilities, industrial embankments, and the Pulau Muara Besar Bridge. PMB also played a recurring role in Brunei's history, first serving as an anchorage for James Brooke and the Royal Navy in the 1840s to monitor political unrest, and later as a strategic site during the Second World War. In June 1945, as part of Operation Oboe 6, Australian forces targeted Japanese defences on the island, securing PMB through coordinated land, air, and naval assaults. The island subsequently became an anchorage and support base for the Allied forces until the war's end.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.