Why Is The Strait of Malacca So Important to the World?

in Southeast Asia lies a narrow stretch of water that's one of the deadliest places in the sea this is the straight of Mala one of the most important shipping routes in the world if ships were to take a detour from this route for a single day it would cost them anywhere from $9 million to $90 million the malaka strait is extremely profitable not only for the ships going through it but for the pirates that Patrol them too so let's take a look at why that is the Straits of malaka is a 550m long narrow stretch of water in Southeast Asia positioned between the east coast of Sumatra and the west coast of the melee Peninsula linked to the straight of Singapore at its Southeast end this funnel-shaped channel is 800 km long and connects the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea the narrowest point of the straight is known as Philips point this is a spot where the passage tightens to 3 km in wi The Straits of Mala stands as one of the world's most crucial arterial shipping lanes that's because it's the fastest shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean regularly utilized by over 400 Shipping Lines connecting more than 700 ports worldwide over 70,000 ships pass through the Straits per year this much traffic also needs proper infrastructure in place to make it safe that's why vessels follow the traffic separation scheme this was implemented in 1981 to establish opposing streams of vessels and mitigate Collision risks traffic jams and collisions aren't the only concern although this place has a history of piracy it was after 9/11 that people became really concerned about the vulnerability of the malaka strait to terrorist attacks now this led to a reassessment of Maritime sector vulnerability fears arose that the ease with which Pirates operated in the straight could be exploited by terrorist groups in response The Joint War Committee of Lloyd's Market Association designated The Straits of malaka as a high-risk area in 2005 however this decision was later rescinded but why were people so concerned about this location in the first place it may seem like the malaka straight is just another shipping passage but when it comes to global trade this straight is truly Irreplaceable the Straits of malaka play a pivotal role in global trade holding strategic and Commercial significance for several reasons firstly it's the short sea route between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean it's more than a third shorter than the closest alternative seab based route if the straight of malaka was blocked as witnessed near Port Dixon in August 2009 and the Changi terminal in May 2010 vessels would need alternative routs but none of those alternatives are very appealing one option would be to reroute vessels around the Indonesian archipelago through the Sunda Strait or the lomak straight the Sunda Strait positioned between Java and Sumatra connecting the Java sea to the Indian Ocean presents challenges due to its shallow Parts this route will cause a 1.5 day delay compared to transiting through the streets of malaka then what about the Lomo straight this straight links the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean between Bali and lomak in Indonesia but it requires at least an additional 3 days in transit compared to the stats of malaka although the lombo straight can accommodate larger vessels the extended route incurs higher costs for operators given that the straight of malaka is the shortest route a lot of important cargo flows through here but before we get into that be sure to leave a like And subscribe if you're enjoying this video so far now let's talk about this important cargo approximately a quarter of all sea transported oil passes through the malaka straight daily making it very strategically important in 2011 of the 87 million barrels of oil produced per day around 15.2 million barrels flow through the straight of Mala that's because this is the shortest sea route between Africa and Persian Gulf suppliers and Asian markets this volume is approximately 19 times that passing through the Panama Canal and four times that through the Suez Canal during the same period by 2016 the daily oil flow through the straight would increase to 16 million barrels this heightened significance arises from the heavy Reliance of countries in Northeast Asia including China and Japan passing through the Straits roughly 60% of the world's Maritime transport transits through the straight of malaka Hosting more than 150 ships and tankers daily primarily from China and Japan the straight of malaka facilitates the transit of about 25% of the oil moving between the Middle East and Asia as China and other Regional Powers witness a surgeon population and wealth this percentage is on a steady increase too the straight of Mala holds strategic importance for the entire indopacific region making countries like China and even the USA heavily ried on its passage any disruption to the Strait's operations would not only sever China's access to a significant portion of its Middle Eastern Energy supplies but also impede the flow of raw materials from Africa where China has invested billions in mining and infrastructure projects the total number of ships going through the straight of Mala has only been increasing since the start of the 21st century however this heightened Maritime activity has attracted unwelcome attention particularly in the form of piracy a long-standing issue in these Waters dating back to the 14th century while piracy has a historical presence it gained International attention in the late 1990s for two primary reasons the 1997 Asian financial crisis left Coastal communities in Indonesia and Malaysia economically distressed driving some to turn to piracy for survival simultaneously a series of high-profile pirate attacks including including the 1998 hijacking of the petol ranger on route from Singapore to hoi Min brought the issue to the Forefront by the early 2000s piracy in The Straits of malaa represented nearly 40% of global piracy incidents southeast Asia became the hots spot for over 41% of global pirate attacks from 1995 to 2013 outpacing the Western Indian Ocean including Somalia at 28% and the West African Coast at 18% in these years the Waters of Southeast Asia witnessed the loss of 136 seafarers due to piracy this was double the casualties in the Horn of Africa home to Somalia and surpassing the combined total in West Africa piracy exacts a hefty toll on the international economy draining between 7 billion and 12 billion annually the Asian shair of this Menace has picked the straight of Mala as the prime location for pickings well-armed and organized criminal groups have honed their focus on oil tankers now navigating the narrow malaka and Singapore Straits venturing into the expansive South China Sea in this huge territory law enforcement faces resource constraints while potential profits for pirates Loom large while the majority of pirate attacks worldwide are opportunistic about 80% Target anchored ships with thieves looting equipment and crew belongings some don't stop there there have been large-scale sophisticated strikes on ships at Sea which requires military coordination and and careful planning to execute but countries aren't taking these attacks lying down efforts to counter the threat to shipping have seen positive individual responses from Coastal states in the region measures such as Vigilant patrols and ongoing operations by the Royal Malayan Marine police along with coordinated Regional initiatives like operation malindo have contributed to a reduction in the risk launched in July 2004 operation malindo involved coordinated Naval patrols by Mal Malaysia Indonesia and Singapore in the respective territorial Waters additionally joint air patrols known as the eyes in the sky plan were introduced in September 2005 with each of the three states contributing two planes for surveillance over the straight the launch of the regional cooperation agreement on combating piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia in 2006 was also a pivotal anti piracy initiative in the region significantly enhancing Maritime security collaboration among nations this agreement facilitates multilateral cooperation against piracy and armed robbery through information sharing capacity building and Cooperative Arrangements despite this there have been notable peaks in incident numbers in 2011 and 2015 with 26 and 104 recorded respectively in 2016 the recorded incidents hit the lowest point at only two however a concerning Trend in Southeast Asia in 2020 is the upswing in incidence in the singap straight compared to the same period in 2019 tracking it over 50% higher and if we take a look at the piracy map of 2023 we can see many incidents concentrated in this region while this place is a supply line of global importance there's a lot of work to be done to address the security concerns in the region because any delays or detours will cost millions of dollars let us know in the comments if you think piracy can ever be stopped in the straight of Mala leave a like subscribe for more share with your friends and be sure to check out these videos on your screen

Channel: EconomyTalk

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Id: N22Yx_gnII4

Length: 9min 34sec (574 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 29 2024