MARITIME SECURITY IN THE MALACCA STRAITS: An Overview of the Challenges Catherine Zara Raymond

Introduction In the aftermath of 9/11, vulnerabilities in the maritime sector became of great concern. This was particularly the case in Southeast Asia, home to one of the world’s most strategically important waterways – the Malacca Straits and the world’s second largest port – Singapore. In addition, both piracy and terrorism are known to be a threat in the region.

Pirate attacks Jan-Sept 2006 (Source: IMB) A Piracy Hotspot

Type of Actual Attacks

Equipment Guns have increasingly appeared alongside knives during attacks.

Maritime terrorism: The Groups Abu Sayyaf Group Moro Islamic Liberation Front Jemaah Islamiyah

The Scenarios Scenario 1: Ship Sunk to Block the Straits of Malacca Straits Times Newspaper in 2004: “If terrorists want to mount a maritime strike here [Southeast Asia], sinking a ship in the Malacca Straits is the likely attack of choice.” “It would enable them to wreak economic havoc worldwide by blocking the sea lane, and is also the easiest way to attack.”

Scenario 2: Tanker as Floating Bomb to Strike Ports LNG, crude oil, petroleum products, chemical products. All have a potentially great destructive capacity. Harnessing this capability would be challenging.

Scenario 3: Malacca Straits Blocked by Mines Could terrorists claim to have mined the Straits and simulate a mine attack on a ship to add credibility to their claims? Impact: The Malacca Straits would be closed to shipping traffic, forcing the vessels to reroute around the Lombok and Sunda Straits. This would cause severe delays on shipping as these alternate routes are longer.

Scenario 4: Small boat attack Simple, easily obtainable equipment? Used before by Al-Qaeda: Limburg 2002 USS Cole 2000

Terrorism-piracy nexus? Could terrorists exploit the maritime knowledge and expertise of the pirates in order to carry out a devastating attack on regional shipping?

Conclusions… It is only through an accurate understanding of piracy and maritime terrorism that we can tailor our countermeasures to effectively combat them.

Thank you…