Malacca Strait is a strait located in the territorial coastal State of Indonesia,
Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Characteristics of the Strait of Malacca are a narrow
waters (1,5 miles) and shallow at some point (25 m deep). From an economic and
strategic perspective, the Strait Malacca is one of the most important shipping lanes in
the world in 21th century. The history of the strait geological relevance goes as back
as 400 years of history. For centuries the strait has been the main shipping channel
between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It has been controlled by major
1 Teo, Yun Yun, Target Malacca Straits: Maritime Terrorism in Southeast Asia (2011),
(available at http://www.navedu.navy.mi.th/stg/databasestory/data/relation-of-
country/cooperation-unit/Malacca-Strait-Patrol/Malacca%20Strait%20Terrorism.pdf)
After 9/11 it is no longer far-fetched to imagine that some terrorists might one
day try to steer a floating bomb into a port in the Straits of Malacca, the way hijackers
flew commercial planes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon in 2001. From a
business standpoint, the boom in south Asian piracy makes a lot of sense. A third of
the world's ships moves through the Malacca Strait and Singapore Strait each year,
including most trade between Europe and China, and nearly all the crude oil that
moves from the Persian Gulf to the big Asian economies like China, Japan and South
Korea. About 130,000 vessels arrive in Singapore each year alone, according to both
Singaporean and international estimates. That breaks down to a ship entering the
strait every four minutes. And the global trade that flows through that bottleneck
only 1.7 miles wide at its narrowest point is growing2. 2/3 of the world’s liquid
petroleum gas, and 1/4 of its sea trade passing through every year provides the
potent ingredients needed to concoct just such an explosive splash.3