Malaysia warns of ‘plausible’ terror threat in Malacca Straits

Malaysia’s top police official warned of a “real and plausible” threat of terrorism in the Malacca Straits, one of the world’s most vital trade-related waterways.

Inspector-General of the Royal Malaysian Police, Musa Hassan, said maritime security concerns included piracy and extortion of fishermen in the straits.

But touching on a topic rarely discussed by Malaysian officials, Musa said said terrorist attacks on the crucial trade route would cripple economies globally, and called for continued vigilance.

“Another threat which is real and plausible that is lurking in the strait is maritime terrorism,” Musa told a conference of maritime industry experts discussing security threats.

Forms of maritime terrorism of “particular concern” included attacks on ships, the hijacking of ships carrying dangerous materials and the use of vessels to attack ports or land facilities, Musa said.

“If terrorists were to command a ship transporting LPG (liquid petroleum gas) for a suicide mission in the strait, such an act would devastate southeast Asia’s economic environment and severely disrupt trade,” he said in his keynote address.

More than 30 pct of world trade passes through the Malacca Straits, and the volume of traffic has increased dramatically, with more than 62,600 ships using the straits in 2005, up 42 pct from 44,000 ships in 1999.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 and is filed under Malaysia, Maritime Strategy News, Piracy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.