Why is the Strait of Malacca so Important to the World's Economy & Military

hello everyone welcome back again with us in another episode of military tv today we're going to talk about the strait of malacca and why it is so important to the world's economy and military world trade which involves a large portion of the world's energy supplies must move through some choke points between producing areas and their final destination the straits of malacca is one of these choke points the malacca strait which connects indonesia malaysia and singapore has long been a major trading route into and out of asia and is regaining prominence this has been in continuous use since antiquity with roman greek chinese and indian traders all taking advantage of this natural river it is now the world's second busiest waterway from the 15th century to the present its strategic importance has made it a center of international strife the suez canal's opening in 1869 only added to the straits importance as it became a crucial connection between the pacific and indian oceans cutting the gap between europe and the far east in half more recently it has acted as the key transit route for essential commodities needed to fuel asia's and the world's fast-growing economies in 2010 nearly half the world's total annual seaborn trade tonnage passed through the straits of malacca and the neighboring straits of sunda and lombok according to figures from the united nations conference on trade and development unctad study of maritime transport in 2011. malacca's economic importance to asia and the broader global economy will rise as the region's economies develop in 2011 approximately 15.2 million barrels of oil were extracted every day and passed through the strait of malacca the shortest sea route between african and persian gulf suppliers and asian markets this is approximately 19 times the volume that passed through the panama canal over the same time span and four times the volume that passed through the suez canal from the economy side the strait of malacca is one of the world's most important shipping lanes both economically and strategically the straight links major asian economies such as india thailand indonesia malaysia the philippines singapore china japan taiwan and south korea and is the largest shipping channel between the indian ocean and the pacific ocean the strait of malacca is part of the maritime silk route which runs from the chinese coast to the southern tip of india to mombasa then through the red sea to the mediterranean through the suez canal then to the upper adrianic region to trieste the northern italian hub with rail links to central europe and the north sea [Music] every year over 94 000 vessels travel through the strait making it the world's busiest strait transporting approximately 25 of the world's traded goods including crude chinese manufactured goods coal palm oil and indonesian coffee the strait carries about a quarter of all oil transported by sea mostly from persian gulf suppliers to asian markets the strait carried an estimated 13.7 million barrels per day in 2007 rising to an estimated 15.2 million barrels per day in 2011. it is also one of the world's most congested shipping choke points as it narrows to just 1.5 nautical miles deep at the philip channel near singapore the maximum size of a vessel that can pass through the strait is known as malacca max which means that the street's minimum depth of 25 meters is inadequate for some of the world's largest ships mostly oil tankers the 50 000 ships that travel through the straits each year transport between one-fifth and one-quarter of the world sea trade oil is the most important transported commodity second only to general freight the straits which are just 1.5 nautical miles wide at their narrowest point the philip channel and the singapore strait are one of the world's busiest traffic choke points as a result the straits are important for both east asia's energy needs and european asian trade more than a third of global trade passes through the straits of malacca in both directions according to reports furthermore when it comes to military matters the strait of malacca plays a vital role the chinese military's progress has focused on their forces ability to participate in anti-access or area denial operations an anti-access area denial strategy is based on the premise that while a state cannot defeat the u.s in a traditional war it can invest in less costly alternatives that limit the us's ability to deploy its advantages through the implementation of its air sea war doctrine the u.s has developed a way of thinking about how to fight this form of strategy that is matching a particular capacity to a specific need in order to optimize the outcome while mitigating risk the annual haze that remains in the straits due to raging bushfires in sumatra is another shipping danger the haze can literally choke shipping by lowering visibility to as low as 200 meters rendering navigation dangerous on such a narrow and busy trade route [Music] the ecologically sensitive ecosystem of high biodiversity bordering the straits is being threatened by increased shipping activities along the shipping lane and rapid growth in coastal areas the malaysian government invested 11 million euros in 256 navigational aids and 22 million euros in a vessel traffic control system to ensure navigation protection in the narrow and shallow straits between 1978 and 1994 there were 476 incidents in the straits including oil spills with an average of 30 accidents each year oil tankers make up about 36 percent of the vessels passing through the straits so when it comes to the malacca strait we draw conclusions the straits of malacca are important for global trade and regional cooperation advancement they are vulnerable to social political and natural disasters but they also offer great economic and social growth opportunities here are the following reasons why malacca strait is so important the straits of malacca transport the bulk of european trade with china and japan the oil imports from the gulf states via the straits of malacca account for the bulk of japan's energy needs as an alternative to the northern silk path the straits have linked the indian subcontinent with east and southeast asia as well as europe and china for centuries the aegean area which includes indonesia thailand malaysia and singapore is at the heart of one of the developing world's growth poles in addition the areas bordering the straits are rich in natural resources ranging from fisheries to mangrove swamps and rainforests from tin mining to gas and oil fields but they are also threatened by tidal devastation tsunamis pollution from shipping and industrial pollution and the sajori growth triangle of singapore johor and riau is partially realized as is the industrial growth of the western part of malaysia bordering the straits the industrial area around penang and international tourism production on the islands of langkawi and phuket thanks for watching we hope you enjoy the video

Channel: Military TV

Views: 94,459

Keywords: strait of malacca, Malacca Strait, malacca strait, malacca economic, malacca canal, south china sea, indian ocean, strait of malacca map, strait of malacca documentary, strait of malacca geopolitics, strait of mallacca, malacca, kra canal, straits of malacca, malacca straits, military, military tv, malacca dilemma

Id: BDlRWyPoONc

Length: 8min 4sec (484 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 13 2021