The Straits Are Not Protected 
International Herald Tribune
January 23, 1993
Michael Leifer

Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad of Malaysia has acquired notoriety as an abrasive advocate of Third World causes. There is a tendency in the West to discount his prescriptions as political self-indulgence. However, his recent call for ships using the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, one of the busiest international waterways in the world, to pay a toll to finance improved navigation and safety measures should be very seriously considered.

The oil spillage and fire following Thursday's collision between two supertankers near the northern entrance to the straits only underline the need for urgent action.

In the last 12 months, a series of collisions in the straits that run between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have caused loss of life and pollution. They call into question the viability of the general maritime regime for straits as well as the system worked out specifically for the Straits of Malacca and Singapore in 1977.

The latter, which extend some 600 nautical miles, provide the shortest sea route between the Indian and Pacific oceans. They are a vital maritime supply line for countries such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan that depend heavily on imports of crude oil from the Gulf. But the straits constrict to a point only 3.4 miles wide in one section opposite Singapore. They are also relatively shallow and increasingly congested.

Concern about safety of navigation in the straits became an issue in the early 1970s with the increase in size and number of oil tankers plying between the Gulf and Japan. In the context of international negotiations for a new law of the sea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore took it upon themselves to work out a traffic separation regime that would reduce the risk of collision. An agreement was concluded in 1977 incorporating two major provisions: first, that vessels in passage should maintain a minimum under-keel clearance of at least 3.5 meters; second, that a traffic separation plan should be instituted for shipping on a voluntary basis.

That regime provided a nexus for a general regime for straits used for international navigation. It was incorporated in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea enacted in 1982. A new principle of transit passage was introduced providing an unimpeded right, with no financial charge, to all ships proceeding through such straits on certain conditions, one of which was prevention of collision and pollution.

But the number and size of vessels using international straits, and the often hazardous nature of the cargoes they carry, have increased dramatically. An average of some 200 large merchant ships ply the Straits of Malacca and Singapore each day, together with an armada of about 1,800 smaller craft, including fishing trawlers. (In addition, piracy in some sections of the straits and surrounding waters has revived to an alarming degree in the past few years.)

The latest collision underscores the need to work out ways for safer traffic management. Clearly, a self-policing system is no longer adequate to cope with the growing volume of shipping. The recent spate of accidents are evidence of abuse by users. Such license is not tolerated in the air; it should no longer be tolerated at sea.

The time has come for the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, at least, to be treated much like a canal, with dues charged to cover the cost of navigation aids, and introduction of trained pilots to ensure that traffic separation is strictly observed.

Objections to a compulsory, fee-based regime of passage will almost certainly arise on grounds of expense and delay. There will also be concern that a precedent is being established that will pose a general threat to freedom of navigation. Singapore, for example, is almost certain to be reluctant to approve any change that might constrain access to and from its free port.

Such objections should be strongly resisted because of the overriding imperative of maritime safety, which has been neglected at obvious human and environmental cost in Southeast Asia.

The so-called new world order promised with the end of the Cold War is predicated on international community values. They should be applied and upheld rationally in the case of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, with the lead being taken by the major maritime powers.

The writer, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, contributed this comment to the International Herald Tribune.

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