'Malacca Strait route not a war risk'

'Malacca Strait route not a war risk'

Agence France-Presse, Singapore

Singapore shippers have urged an international insurance body to remove the Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest waterways, from its list of "war risk" areas incurring possible higher premiums.

Security in the strait, which carries about a third of global trade on 50,000 ships annually, has much improved, the Singapore Maritime Foundation said in a statement obtained on Thursday.

The strait between Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia has been listed among the world's worst waters for piracy and some governments in the region worry it could also be a target for extremist groups.

The Joint War Committee (JWC) of the Lloyd's Market Association added the strait to its list of war risk areas last June. The Market Association is an insurance body that advises members of Lloyd's of London.

"Following this, some underwriters issued notices to their customers advising that additional premiums would have to be paid for ships transiting the Strait," said the Singapore Maritime Foundation, an industry organization.

The Joint War Committee (JWC) made its designation without consulting the industry or littoral states and acted only on the recommendation of a security consulting company, the Foundation said.

In August Malaysia's Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy also urged the strait's removal from Lloyd's list.

In September the JWC's head met maritime industry representatives in Singapore and agreed to consider alternative information, the Singapore Maritime Foundation said.

The foundation then commissioned London's International Institute for Strategic Studies to commission a report on "the threat of maritime terrorism" in the Malacca Strait.

The foundation said it sent the report to the JWC on Dec. 13 and understands it will be considered early in the new year when the JWC meets to review its list of war list areas.

"It is hoped that, following its review, the JWC will be persuaded that the security situation has very much improved and will remove the Malacca Strait from the list," the statement said.

The International Maritime Bureau said the Malacca Strait recorded 38 pirate attacks in 2004, a number second only to the 94 in Indonesian waters.

This year there has been a dramatic reduction in attacks on ships in the Strait, the Bureau said, attributing the decline to an increase in patrols by Indonesia on its side of the waterway.

The Singapore government remains concerned about the potential for extremist attacks and Singapore's Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng earlier this month said the region must focus on maritime security.