How to protect the Malacca Straits<\/p>\n
Michael Richardson, The Straits Times, Asia News Network\/Singapore<\/p>\n
Singapore's Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean has called for
\ntighter security in the Malacca Straits to prevent a possible
\nmaritime terrorist attack that could, at least temporarily, close
\nthe 900 km sea lane to international shipping carrying a quarter
\nof the world's trade and half its oil.<\/p>\n
The suicide attacks at the weekend on Iraq's two main oil
\nterminals using small boats packed with explosives were
\nreminiscent of the strikes against American destroyer USS Cole in
\nOctober 2000 and the laden French oil tanker Limburg in October
\n2002, both in Yemen's waters and both blamed on Osama bin Laden's
\nal-Qaeda network.<\/p>\n
There are several very busy but relatively narrow
\ninternational shipping straits around the world. One of the best
\nknown is the Hormuz Strait, leading to the oil-rich and
\npolitically volatile Persian Gulf. This waterway is patrolled
\nregularly by naval vessels of the two littoral states, Oman and
\nIran, as well as by American and allied warships, all of which
\nhave a common interest in keeping it open and safe.<\/p>\n
Rear-Admiral (NS) Teo noted that there is a particular risk
\nfrom big ships carrying oil or chemicals that could be sunk in
\nthe narrowest parts, or choke-points, of the straits, or be
\nturned into floating bombs.<\/p>\n
The strait most vulnerable to a terrorist strike using a ship
\nas a weapon is probably the congested Bosporus Strait, which
\nconnects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean, bisecting Turkey
\nand dividing Asia from Europe.<\/p>\n
This is just less than one kilometer wide at its narrowest
\npoint, where it passes through the heart of Istanbul, the
\ncommercial capital of Turkey. About 50,000 vessels a year go
\nthrough the Turkish strait, about the same number as through the
\nMalacca Straits.<\/p>\n
But the South-east Asian waterway, although three times as
\nwide at its narrowest point south of Singapore, is far more
\nimportant to global trade than the Turkish strait. And it is not
\npatrolled regularly because, so far, its three littoral states --
\nIndonesia, Malaysia and Singapore -- have not been able to
\ndevelop sufficient common interest to work with major users of
\nthe straits who want better protection both from pirates and
\nterrorists.<\/p>\n
How could a consensus for a new form and level of security in
\nthe Malacca Straits be built? One way might be to include
\ncollaborative security arrangements for the straits on the agenda
\nof official discussions to shape the still evolving ASEAN
\nSecurity Community. This would enable Indonesia to take
\n\"ownership\" of any deal that was agreed upon. But it would need
\nto be structured to appeal to Indonesia, by far the least
\ndependent of the three littoral states on seaborne international
\ntrade.<\/p>\n
Indonesia proposed the ASEAN Security Community to complement
\nthe ASEAN Economic Community, which other members of the group,
\nincluding Singapore, have made a priority. Singapore said last
\nmonth it felt the time was not right to establish a regional
\npeacekeeping force as part of the ASEAN Security Community.
\nSingapore could create a better atmosphere by agreeing to explore
\nthe peacekeeping plan further.<\/p>\n
But probably the most important step is to engage the
\nIndonesian armed forces as well as the government in Jakarta and
\npersuade them to support collaborative security arrangements for
\nthe Malacca Straits.<\/p>\n
The U.S. government has been seeking to do this but is
\nconstrained by congressional legislation imposing restrictions on
\nmilitary ties and arms sales to Indonesia because of past human
\nrights abuses by the Indonesian military.<\/p>\n
Still, senior U.S. and Indonesian defense and intelligence
\nofficials agreed last week at a meeting in Washington to resume
\ntheir bilateral defense dialogue before the end of this year. The
\nBush administration has also promised to provide training
\nopportunities for Indonesian officers.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, what may be needed is large-scale foreign military
\naid to help Indonesia create an effective coast guard or a navy
\nwith enough ships and properly trained and paid personnel to
\nsecure its waters in and close to the Malacca Straits.<\/p>\n
The status of the straits makes it a politically sensitive
\nissue. Under international law, a major part of the straits is
\nwithin the territorial sea of the three littoral states. Foreign
\nvessels have the right to unimpeded transit through shipping
\nlanes, but countries whose vessels use them have no right to
\npatrol or arrest attackers unless they are authorized to do so by
\nthe coastal state in whose waters the incident occurred.<\/p>\n
If a flexible approach was taken by the littoral states, some
\nexperts have said it might be possible to use Article 43 of the
\nUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as a legal basis
\nfor improving security in the straits.<\/p>\n
Article 43 deals with navigational safety and pollution in the
\nwaterway. It could be stretched to include security, perhaps
\ninitially by allowing approved naval or coast guard vessels of
\nother states to exercise joint responsibility for protecting
\ninternational shipping through the straits.<\/p>\n
A precedent for this was set by an agreement between India and
\nthe U.S. for the Indian navy to escort through the Malacca
\nStraits \"high-value\" American merchant ships, such as those
\ncarrying ammunition and supplies, in 2002 and part of last year
\nto free U.S. navy ships for other missions.<\/p>\n
Malaysia gave a nod to this arrangement and Indonesia did not
\nobject. Singapore's navy patrol craft, too, have escorted some
\ntankers, container vessels and cruise ships through the waters
\nsouth of Singapore to guard against terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n
The writer is a visiting senior research fellow at the
\nInstitute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. This is a
\npersonal comment.<\/p>",
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