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The Risk of Maritime Terrorism in the Malacca Strait
Singapore -- In June of this year, the Joint War Committee (JWC) of the London-based Lloyd's Market Association added the Malacca Strait to its list of war risk areas. Following this, some underwriters issued notices to their customers advising that additional premiums would have to be paid for ships transiting the Strait.
This move by the JWC was objected to by the shipping industry and also the littoral states. Among other things, it was felt that the JWC had not consulted with the industry or with the littoral states and had acted on just the recommendations of a single party, namely a security consulting company commissioned by the JWC.
Subsequently, in September, the Chairman of the JWC Mr Rupert Atkin was invited to Singapore and, at a meeting with representatives of the local maritime community, agreed to consider alternative reports and other information on the Malacca Strait situation.
As this issue affects various sectors of the maritime community and Singapore as a whole, the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) decided to commission a report on the threat of maritime terrorism in the Malacca Strait, to be submitted to the JWC. The SMF selected the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a reputable London-based think-tank which has been involved in security discussions in the area including the Shangri-la Dialogue.
The report has been completed and was sent to the JWC on the 13th December 2005. The SMF understands that the JWC will be meeting in early 2006 and reviewing the list of war risk areas and that this report will be considered at that meeting. It is hoped that, following its review, the JWC will be persuaded that the security situation has very much improved and will remove the Malacca Strait from the list.
For more information and enquiries, please contact:
Mr William Ng
(Communications)
Singapore Maritime Foundation
DID: (65) 6325 0236
Email: william@sgmf.com.sg
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