Navy launches operation to secure Malacca Strait

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.