Sawai Bay

Sawai Bay lies on the northern coast of Seram in the Moluccas. The settlement of Sawai gave its name to the bay and became the site of the first Dutch East India Company post on this coast. Initially the post consisted of a simple building within a wooden stockade.

The Company regarded a presence in northern and eastern Seram as less important than footholds on other islands in its Ambon sphere. Around 1788 it strengthened the Sawai post, which also had a stone powder magazine. The bay was thus connected to the Company's wider network in the central Moluccas.