Dataset : Decennial samples of entries and exits from the port of Nouméa between 1919 and 1970

This dataset comprises information from two overlapping and complementary sources: the Bulletin du Commerce and the “Registres de la Navigation Extérieure” The Bulletin du Commerce is a weekly newspaper published continuously between 1900 and 1972. For the period 1900-1939, it presents the movements of the port of Nouméa under the heading “Navigation”. For each boat, date of arrival and departure, name, type, nationality, number of passengers, origin and destination are given. In a few rare cases, cargo embarked or disembarked is also indicated. The Registres de la Navigation Extérieure are original manuscripts which constitute the most reliable source for studying ship movements. They lend themselves particularly well to serialization, even if some information is illegible due to handwriting or ink that may have faded over time. For each incoming vessel, they specify type, gross and net tonnage, captain, crew, passengers, destination or origin, date of arrival or departure, cargo taken or discharged, and consignee. They cover a total of five periods: 1928 - 1934; 1938-1941; 1950-1952; 1985-1962; 1967-1970. To compile the dataset, we therefore entered the entirety of two years from the “Navigation” section of The Bulletin du Commerce - 1909 and 1919 - and six years from the Registres de la Navigation Extérieure - 1929, 1934, 1939, 1950, 1960 and 1970. We were able to verify data provided by The Bulletin du Commerce from other periodicals published at the same time, particularly la France Australe, which also gives ship movements. From 1929 onwards, we preferred to rely on the Registres de la Navigation Extérieure, which is a reliable source, but we were able to verify our figures using The Bulletin du Commerce, which continued to provide more sporadic information on cargoes, arrivals, departures, shipowners and various lines until 1972. The main table port_movements contains 1 753 maritime entries and departures. Each record includes the ship’s name, nationality, type, port of origin and destination, cargo, passengers, and crew, as well as metadata such as tonnage and georeferenced coordinates for mapping. The dataset was cleaned and harmonized. The main table is enriched by a relational stopover table ship_trajectories which records intermediate ports visited by vessels before or after Nouméa, including 865 stopovers, each linked to a record in the main dataset by the fields id and ship_id. Vessels are tracked across entries using the ship_id field. We have added harmonized ISO country codes for nationalities. Geocoding was carried out using geographical directories and historical maps. Table can be linked via the id field. Each voyage (id) can have multiple rows in the spatial table, representing multiple stopovers.