Even as increased demand strains supplies of crude oil and natural gas around the world, seaborne terrorism continues to pose a major threat of disruption to international deliveries.
Consider again the threat to the Straits of Malacca, which-according to Malaysia’s police chief-remains vulnerable to a terrorist strike that would send political and economic shock waves worldwide.
At an ocean security conference last week, Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan told law and shipping officials from more than 30 countries that militants could storm a ship, hijack one carrying hazardous material, or use a vessel as a weapon to hit port and land facilities.
Maritime terrorism is a “threat which is real and possible that is lurking in the straits,” Musa said. “The straits must be kept open and safe, and the prime responsibility is with the three littoral states of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.”
Continued fears
Musa said there are continued fears that terrorists could try to commandeer a ship transporting LPG for a suicide mission and that an attack in the straits could cut the oil supply chain from Middle Eastern producers to East Asian consumers.
“The use of a ship as a weapon in the manner of the [Sept. 11, 2001] attacks is a troubling scenario,” Musa said. “It would mean rerouting the vessels, which would lead to the skyrocketing of freight and insurance rates and which will lead to a devastating global economic impact.”
Is he talking through his hat? While pirate attacks may be down, terrorist attacks come out of the blue, and the world’s waterways are vulnerable. Even the highly vaunted US Navy cannot single-handedly protect them-even if other nations agreed.
That’s the view of the US Navy admiral, nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has called for the creation of global naval partnerships to deal with emerging threats around the world.
Naval alliance
With many of the US Navy’s 276 ships tied up in Afghanistan and Iraq, Adm. Michael Mullen said the US cannot unilaterally secure international seaways and that the Navy faces a “very challenging time.”
He has suggested a 1,000-ship naval alliance with US allies that would be based in ports around the world to respond to crises, saying, “Nobody can do it alone.”
Against that view is the attitude of Rear Adm. Agus Suhartono, chief of Indonesia’s naval western fleet, who says authorities have no specific information of any terrorist plot targeting the Straits of Malacca.
As a result, he and others like him decline to consider the need for any international naval alliance to protect the straits. Such attitudes may do much to serve nationalistic pride, but they afford very little solace to the world economy as represented by the 200 or so ships that hazard the ill-protected waterway each day.
