MALAYSIA CONTINUES MALACCA STRAIT CAMPAIGN

Undeterred by last month’s three reported piracy attacks in the Malacca Strait, the Malaysian Government resumed its campaign to stop the Strait being declared a war risk zone by the Joint War Committee of the Lloyd’s Market Association. Malaysia transport minister Chan Kong Choy said yesterday at a conference hosted by the Maritime institute of Malaysia that increased insurance premiums reduced the number of ships using the Strait. This impacted on the economies of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Malaysia has been on a war risk rating since June 2005. The littoral states had claimed that increased supervision had reduced the risk of attacks, but last month’s events meant that the number of attacks just fell from eight in the first six months of last year to six this year. Mr Chan said at the conference that “at the very least, (the war committee) should provide clearly what are the requirements for delisting”.