Malacca Straits may turn into dead sea: Paper

Malacca Straits may turn into dead sea: Paper

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): The Straits of Malacca, one of the
world's most congested waterways, will soon be devoid of marine
life unless action is taken to fight oil pollution, the New
Straits Times newspaper reported yesterday.

"Experiments have demonstrated that the busiest strait in the
world in terms of oil tanker traffic can only tolerate another
three to four-fold increase in oil pollution," the newspaper
quoted a Malaysian marine specialist, Law Ah Theem, as saying on
Saturday.

The Straits of Malacca, which connects the Indian Ocean to the
South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, is the shortest route
between the oil fields of the Middle East and the booming
economies of East Asia.

According to Malaysian officials, some 33,982 vessels passed
through the waterway in 1993. Of these some 30 percent were oil
tankers.

Law said the huge amount of waste and spills from oil tankers'
operations, offshore oil production activities and coastal
refineries as well as land-based oil industries have polluted the
seas around Malaysia.

Law said there were already signs of disturbance in the marine
ecosystems in Malaysian states bordering the Malacca Straits.

He predicted more crude oil transportation in the future due
to the high economic development in the region.

"It would not be long before the level of crude oil residue in
water reaches 1,000 parts per billion terminating all the primary
production (of marine life) in the Straits," the paper quoted him
as saying at a talk on oil pollution in the Malaysian Seas on
Saturday.

Malaysia, which spends millions of dollars on navigational
services in the Straits and also bears indirect costs from
pollution and accidents, has been seeking the help of other
countries to pay for the upkeep of the strategic, wreck-littered
waterway.