[list_indonesia] [ppiindia] Stepping up safety in the Malacca Strait
- From: "Ambon" <sea@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@freelists.org>
- Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 22:43:20 +0100
** Mailing-List Indonesia Nasional Milis PPI-India www.ppi-india.da.ru **
Stepping up safety in the Malacca Strait
By BARRY DESKER
Special to The Japan Times
SINGAPORE -- There has been, of late, increasing concern over the safety of
navigation in the Malacca Strait. This follows al-Qaeda attacks on the USS Cole
in Aden in October 2000 and the French-owned supertanker Limburg off the coast
of Aden in October 2002.
Then there was the bombing of a ferry by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group
in waters off Manila in February 2004, the worst act of maritime terrorism in
recent years, with more than 100 passengers killed. Two examples suffice to
highlight the significance of the Malacca Strait and Singapore to international
shipping:
First, oil flows through the strait are three times greater than through the
Suez Canal/Sumed pipeline and 15 times greater than through the Panama Canal.
Second, two-thirds of the tonnage passing through the strait consists of crude
oil from the Persian Gulf bound for Japan, South Korea and, increasingly,
China. More than half of the world's shipping tonnage passes through the
strait.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimates that, if for some
reason the strait were closed, all "excess shipping capacity would be absorbed
with the effects being strongest for crude oil shipments and dry bulk cargoes
such as coal . . . [which] could be expected to immediately raise freight rates
worldwide."
The IMO has noted the number of violent attacks on shipping in the strait since
mid-May 2004. A tug, a barge, an offshore support vessel and two cargo ships
have been attacked in broad daylight using automatic weapons and grenades.
There have been the boarding of vessels, the tying up of crew and, in March
2003, the piloting of the Dewi Madrin, a small chemical tanker, for some
distance through the strait.
Such incidents have raised the possibility of terrorist attacks on ocean-going
vessels such as oil and chemical tankers traversing the strait.
It is also widely believed that the Acehnese independence movement, Gerakan
Aceh Merdeka (GAM), has been orchestrating acts of piracy in the northern
stretch of the Malacca Strait, particularly in the past year. Significantly,
these attacks have declined significantly since the devastating tsunami of Dec.
26, which destroyed coastal communities in northern Aceh.
Today there is growing concern that such acts of piracy may be linked to
regional and global organizations such as al-Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiyah and GAM.
From the vantage point of the shipping community, how does the crew of a vessel
transiting the strait differentiate an act of boarding a vessel to stage a
robbery at sea from that of boarding a vessel with the intention to hijack and
use it as a floating bomb?
The 9/11 terrorist attacks changed the way the civil-aviation community handles
hijacking incidents because the intention of the hijackers was to kill as many
as possible in suicide attacks. In the past, the intention was to get as much
publicity and as much ransom as possible with the minimum loss of life.
Similarly, the maritime community needs to pay greater attention to the risk of
a "low-probability, high-impact scenarios" such as the hijacking of a tanker or
a liquid natural gas carrier for use as a human-guided missile, or an attack on
a commercial or naval vessel at narrow points in the strait to disrupt traffic
flows within the waterway.
The idea is not so far-fetched. Jemaah Islamiyah operatives arrested in
Singapore in late 2001 had undertaken operational surveillance and considered
the possibility of an attack on U.S. naval vessels in Singapore waters off the
Strait of Singapore. At its narrowest point, between Raffles Lighthouse and
Batu Berhenti, the strait is 1.2 nautical miles wide, creating a natural
bottleneck if there were a collision or grounding, aside from the probable
pollution of the maritime environment.
The littoral states are cooperating to facilitate the unimpeded passage of
international seaborne trade. Trilateral coordinated patrols among the navies
of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have been implemented and are targeted
against sea piracy and maritime terrorism. But more needs to be done.
The changed strategic environment in the Malacca and Singapore straits is of
particular interest to (1) the littoral states -- Indonesia, Malaysia, and
Singapore -- because of the threat of pollution and the possible risk of
attacks on onshore facilities; and (2) the user states, especially Japan, China
and South Korea, which are dependent on the Malacca Strait for the smooth and
efficient transit of cargo, especially energy supplies.
Other user states are the major maritime powers (such as the United States)
that are concerned about the possible threat to their naval vessels traversing
the straits.
Consequently, the status of the Malacca Strait as a waterway used for
international shipping requires an inclusive approach to its future management.
Just as the littoral states have valid concerns about the possible costs
arising from pollution in the event of a collision or grounding in the strait,
user states are concerned about the provision of appropriate facilities that
could reduce the risk of such accidents as well as prevent possible acts of
piracy or terrorism.
The 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) recognized that user
states had an interest in unimpeded passage through and over straits used for
international shipping. It limited the right of the littoral states to regulate
the passage of ships traversing the strait but recognized the jurisdiction of
the littoral states over illegal activities taking place within their
territorial waters.
Article 43 of UNCLOS provided for burden-sharing agreements between the
littoral states and user states "in the establishment and maintenance in a
strait of necessary navigational and safety aids and other improvements in aid
of international navigation; and for the prevention, reduction and control of
pollution from ships."
We should, therefore, view the IMO-sponsored meeting in Jakarta this September
as the beginning of a process intended to address issues of navigational
safety, environmental protection and maritime security in the Malacca Strait.
The international shipping community is confronted with growing challenges as a
result of the exponential increase in shipping through the Malacca Strait as
well as the new threat of catastrophic terrorism after 9/11. There is a need
for a new architecture facilitating cooperative arrangements involving the
littoral states and the user states.
One approach could be the institutionalization of the IMO-sponsored meeting on
the straits of Malacca and Singapore involving all interested parties. It could
go beyond the modest objectives envisaged in the original proposal to consider
ways and means of implementing Article 43 of UNCLOS.
Such an inclusive process will strengthen the commitment of user states to meet
the costs of upgrading the capabilities of the littoral states. It will also
encourage the user states to ensure the provision of safety and navigational
aids and the establishment of state-of-the-art electronic information systems.
Over the longer term, the formation of a regional coordinating center could be
envisaged. The center could help coordinate responses by naval, coast guard and
marine-police forces operating in or traversing through the straits in the
event of acts of piracy or maritime terrorism.
Barry Desker is director of the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
The Japan Times: March 23, 2005
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