Navy launches operation to secure Malacca Strait

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Tanjung Uban, Riau Islands

The Indonesian Navy launched a three-month operation on Tuesday in a bid to fight rampant pirate attacks in the crucial Strait of Malacca.

Navy deputy chief of staff Vice Admiral W.R. Argawa said that the operation, named Gurita (Octopus), involved 90 patrol boats and naval ships, four planes, two helicopters, and some 2,973 personnel including marine and infantry units, amphibious scouts, frogman teams, and intelligence teams.

He was speaking during a launching ceremony at the Mentigi Navy base in Tanjung Uban.

"We'll work hard to make the Strait of Malacca a safe shipping lane," Argawa pledged.

He explained that the operation, which would cover the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Singapore, was part of efforts by the littoral states (Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore) to boost security in the crucial shipping lane.

The relatively narrow 960-kilometer-long (600-mile) Strait of Malacca, bordered by Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, is used by an estimated 50,000 ships a year carrying a third of world trade and half its oil supplies.

The three countries policing the strait have launched coordinated naval patrols since last year in a bid to better secure it against piracy and potential militant attacks, but attacks on ships are still on the rise.

The London-based Lloyd's Market Association's Joint War Committee reportedly added in June, the Strait of Malacca to 20 other areas, including Iraq, Lebanon and Nigeria, deemed to be security threats.

Elsewhere, Argawa vowed that the Indonesian Military would not allow the proposed involvement of foreign troops (from outside the littoral states) in securing the strait.

He said what Indonesia needed was technological assistance such as telecommunications equipment to help boost the capacity of the Navy.

"The involvement of foreign troops will make us look weak. We don't want that," Argawa explained.