The Tjiwangi was built under construction number 751 at Van der Giessen in Krimpen aan den IJssel and was launched on April 29, 1950. The takeover to Koninklijke Java-China-Paketvaart Lijnen and the commissioning on the route from the Dutch East Indies to Hong Kong took place in the same year.
In July 1960, the ship switched to the route to Australia and Japan , after it was henceforth managed by Royal Interocean Lines . In 1962 and 1963, the Tjiwangi received a modernization in which, among other things, the hull, which was previously black, was painted white.
After another decade in service, the ship was put up for sale in November 1973. The new owner was the Singapore-based Pacific International Lines , which renamed it Kota Bali and used it on the route from Singapore to Australia and Malaysia .
In 1979 the Kota Bali went to a Malaysian owner. After another five years of service, it was retired in 1984 and then scrapped in Shanghai.
