[Kabar-indonesia] Malacca Strait users may have to pay fees - experts

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

Malacca Strait users may have to pay fees - experts

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Shipping vessels could soon have to pay 
a fee to use the Malacca Strait, as nations along one of the world's busiest 
waterways hunt for ways to share the costs of keeping it open and safe, 
experts said on Wednesday. 

The 900-km-long (550 miles) Malacca Straits links Asia with the Middle East 
and Europe, carrying about 40 percent of the world's trade, including 80 
percent of the energy supplies of Japan and China. 

Littoral states Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have stepped up patrols of 
the Strait in response to a surge of concern over incidents of piracy that 
prompted London insurers Lloyds to list the region as a war-risk zone, boosting 
premiums. 

Maritime experts meeting in the Malaysian capital said they were studying 
ways for the littoral states to persuade shipping companies and maritime nations 
to help defray the costs of keeping the channel open and secure. 

"People, I think, are willing to pay money to keep the Malacca Strait a safe, 
reliable resource and as the pressure of traffic increases, they will be 
willing to pay a bit more to keep access open," said Jon Van Dyke, a specialist in 
maritime law at the University of Hawaii. 

"Collecting a toll could be done through the country where the ship is 
registered," he added. "Enforcement is going to be difficult, but you do it the same 
way you enforce fishing regulations -- you impose a draconian fine on the few 
you do catch, and that has a deterrent effect on the rest."        
 
Plans for a toll encountered unanimous industry opposition when first mooted 
10 years ago but opinion in the shipping industry was gradually changing, 
another expert said. 

"So far the positive response is a verbal one, where users of the Strait say 
the littoral states must come up with a mechanism and we will look at it," 
said Cheah Kong Wai, director general of the Maritime Institute of Malaysia, a 
think-tank. 

This could involve setting up a body to collect the dues, perhaps on a 
proportionate sharing basis, he added, although he could not estimate how soon such 
a scheme would take effect. Whatever the ultimate shape of such a proposal, 
support from the International Maritime Organisation, a United Nations agency 
charged with safeguarding international shipping that groups 166 nations, will 
be crucial, the analysts said. 

"The IMO is finally stepping up to the plate on this," said Van Dyke. 
"Shippers are finally realising they have no choice. And coastal countries are more 
comfortable with the IMO doing this than with Japan or the United States, for 
instance." 
     
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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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