SE Asia eyes anti-terror effort in Malacca Strait

SE Asia eyes anti-terror effort in Malacca Strait

Grace Nirang, Reuters, Jakarta

Imagine a huge gas tanker hijacked in the busy Malacca Strait and
turned into a floating bomb aimed at wealthy Singapore or major
ports in Indonesia or Malaysia.

The blast would cause massive damage and yet the chances of
such an attack could be limited if there was closer cooperation
between the three Southeast Asian nations, regional ministers
gathered in the Indonesian capital Jakarta said on Thursday.

Experts have warned the Malacca Strait, one of the world's
busiest sea lanes, could make an ideal target for militants to
hijack tankers filled with hundreds of thousands of tons of gas
or oil.

"The issue of fighting piracy in the Malacca Strait has to
take on a new importance given the much greater threat it could
now pose. We need a closer security cooperation with Malaysia and
Singapore," Indonesian Communications Minister Agum Gumelar told
Reuters at the sidelines of the TransASEAN 2002 conference.

Gas carriers make ideal targets due to the highly flammable
nature of their cargo, experts say. A hijacked tanker could be
rammed into offshore oil terminals causing huge damage.

Southeast Asia is particularly at risk from sea-borne militant
attacks given the narrowness of its waterways, while the long-
running scourge of piracy in the Malacca Strait illustrates just
how easy it is to hijack a vessel, experts warn.

"But such efforts (to secure the strait) are very costly...so
the three countries will try to get international support...on
how to share the cost," Singapore Transport Minister Yeo Cheow
Tong told Reuters.

He said the island country has stepped up security at maritime
installations and waters surrounding offshore oil and chemical
terminals following threats on its Changi airport earlier this
year.

Malaysian Minister of Transport Ling Liong Sik said it was
increasingly important for Southeast Asian countries to cooperate
in ensuring the security of their cargoes in the free trade era.

"Container tracking and safe delivery of our cargo is very
important especially to the United States," Ling said.

Terrorists are likely to be much more organized and better
armed than pirates and, even more alarmingly, could already be
present on the ship as bona fide crew, he said.

Apart from the obvious devastation such an attack would cause,
the economic impact could be enormous, blocking a sea lane that
carries 25 percent of the world's crude oil trade, or 10.3 m
barrels a day, Ling said.

Others said if militants can train to be aircraft pilots they
can learn to control a large ship as well.

"And one of the problems...despite huge advances in tracking
and communications equipment, owners and operators often do not
know where their ships really are and therefore take considerable
time to realize that they are missing," said Barens Saragih, the
head of the Indonesian National Shipowners Association.