'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.