Show of force launched to protect vital strait

Show of force launched to protect vital strait

Fadli/Endy M. Bayuni, On board the 'KRI Tanjung Dalpele',
Strait of Malacca

Seventeen warships from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore,
sailing in formation, passed the KRI Tanjung Dalpele on Tuesday
in a clear show of force as the three countries' navies began a
coordinated patrol aimed at stamping out piracy in the Strait of
Malacca.

Launching the Malsindo, a 24/7 all-year round operation,
Indonesia's Military Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said the
door was open for other countries that have an interest in the
safety and security of the strait, a vital international shipping
lane, to take part either directly or indirectly.

The three littoral states would welcome offers of support and
assistance from other countries, in the form of equipment or
training, he said. "If they want to join, it should first be
approved by all three countries."

Also on board the KRI Tanjung Dalpele were Endriartono's
counterparts Gen. Zahidi Zainuddin of Malaysia and Lt. Gen. Ng
Yat Chung of Singapore, and the three navy chiefs, admirals
Bernard Kent Sondakh of Indonesia, Mohd. Anwar Mohd. Nor of
Malaysia and Ronny Tay of Singapore.

The coordinated operation is the result of months of
negotiations -- some conducted at golf clubs, according to one
senior Navy officer -- between the three navy chiefs as they
sought to resolve the growing problem of piracy.

The Strait of Malacca, linking the Indian Ocean with the South
China Sea, is a narrow 600-kilometer stretch of water used by
more than 50,000 commercial shipping companies each year,
carrying more than one-third of the global shipping trade and
one-half of the world's crude oil shipment.

All Japan's crude oil needs come from ships that pass through
the strait. South Korea and China also rely extensively on crude
supplies shipped through it.

The International Maritime Bureau, an arm of the Paris-based
International Chamber of Commerce, said that in 2003, there were
28 pirate attacks in the Strait of Malacca. Most of the attacks
took place in Indonesian waters.

What triggered the negotiations was a speech by Admiral Tom
Fargo, commander of the Honolulu-based U.S. Pacific Command, in
Congress in March, in which he broached his Regional Maritime
Security Initiative (RMSI) that calls for partnership among
countries in the Asia-Pacific to enhance maritime security.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the U.S. has
also expressed concern at the possibility of terrorists using the
Strait of Malacca to launch their attacks, using local pirates to
help their cause. Such a scenario could create havoc, not only in
shipping activities in the Malacca Strait, but also in the world
economy, given the importance of the shipping lane.

However, Singapore's suggestion in March to bring in the
United States in patrolling the Strait of Malacca was quickly
rebuked by both Indonesia and Malaysia, who said that this would
entail questions of sovereignty.

The coordinated patrol was also preferred to a joint
operation, which would have meant that all three navies worked
under one command. Whether this option is effective will only be
known in the coming months.

The coordinated patrol is a compromise in which each navy will
continue to be in charge and responsible for the safety of their
respective waters, but allowing for the possibility of a warship
from one country to enter another, either in hot pursuit of a
pirate ship, or in response to a distress call.

The three navies have also opened a 24-hour hotline that will
keep them continuously in contact as they each patrol their own
waters. Each country is committed to provide between five to
seven ships for the maintenance of security in the strait.
The possible participation of other countries will be discussed
when Indonesia hosts a meeting of all navy chiefs in the
Asia-Pacific region later this year.

"We are not the only three countries that have an interest in
maintaining security in the Malacca Strait," Endriartono said.