Tolls Proposed for Strait of Malacca
International Herald Tribune
October 9, 1992
Michael Richardson  

Ships using the Strait of Malacca would have to pay tolls for the first time to finance safety measures there under a measure to be discussed at an international conference on the shipping lane, Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad of Malaysia announced Thursday.

Malaysia will convene the conference following a spate of recent shipping accidents in the strait, one of the world's busiest sea-lanes.

Mr. Mahathir said the meeting would discuss various measures, including payments by users of the strait to improve traffic regulation.

He said that "some form of payment must be made to some authority which would be responsible for keeping the straits open and reducing any danger to shipping."

Ships pay no tolls for using the 1,000 kilometer (600 mile) waterway that runs between Indonesia to the south and Malaysia and Singapore too the north. The strait is the main passage for ships between the Pacific and Indian oceans.

According to the National Maritime Council, a Malaysian government agency, about 200 large merchant ships and 1,800 smaller vessels, including fishing trawlers, use the strait each day.

Malaysia plans to invite ministers or senior officials from Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, as well as representatives from shipping companies and maritime organizations, to attend the safety conference.

Mr. Mahathir said Malaysia wanted the meeting to be held as quickly as possible.

"If the world claims this is an international waterway, then the world must contribute toward its maintenance," he said.

Shipping industry sources said that many shipowners and shippers were likely to oppose attempts by states flanking the strait to levy taxes or impose new traffic regulations that would slow cargo delivery times and increase costs.

Although concerned at the growing number of shipping accidents, Singapore, a major port and transshipment center, is wary of actions that might call into question the international status of the strait and the right of free passage.

But both Malaysia and Indonesia are pressing for stricter controls. Indonesian officials have proposed introduction of special shipping lanes or compulsory piloting for all vessels passing through the strait. Both measures would cost a substantial amount of money.

Mochtar Kusumaatmadja, an international law expert and former foreign minister of Indonesia, said Thursday that a more practical alternative would be for some of the larger ships to avoid the relatively shallow straits of Malacca and Singapore by using the deep-water Sunda Strait between the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java.

For safety reasons, giant tankers carrying oil from the Gulf to Japan use the Lombok and Makassar straits, another deep-water channel passing through Indonesia.

Littoral states are worried that increasing use of the Malacca and Singapore straits by ships may lead to a serious accident that would cause catastrophic pollution.

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