KL to use radar for busy strait

Mon, 01 Dec 1997 | Source: REUTERS

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysia will commission a new 100 million ringgit (US$28.5 million) radar system next year to make the increasingly busy Strait of Malacca safer for ships, a local newspaper reported yesterday.

The New Sunday Times quoted Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik as saying that tests were being conducted on the new system which had been approved in principle by the International Maritime Organization.

When implemented, all vessels entering the 600-kilometer long strait must contact the radar center which would then guide their passage, Ling said.

Under present maritime laws, vessels using the strait need not report their passage as it was considered an international waterway.

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