Cooperative Mechanism

One of the concerns impacted by the 11 September 2011 or 9/11 incident was the escalation of such terrorist attack on other modes of transportation, including on maritime transportation. This prompted the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to exercise increase vigilance on the security of maritime transportation, both on ships and in ports. A direct  consequence of this was the adoption of the ISPS Code in 2002, which has now become a mandatory Code.

At its 93rd session in 2004, the IMO Council addressed maritime security issues reported by the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of IMO. The Council shared the concerns expressed by the IMO Secretary General for the need to keep shipping lanes of strategic significance and importance safe and open to international maritime traffic, thereby ensuring the uninterrupted flow of goods. The Straits of Malacca and Singapore were identified as the most significant trade sea lane, as the uninterrupted flow of traffic through the Straits constitutes an element of significant importance to many economies. Should the traffic flow in the waterway be disrupted, it would have an adverse impact on international trade and the global economy as a whole.

At that time, the concern over the security and safety in the Straits was further exacerbated by the Increasing incidents of ‘acts of piracy and armed robbery’ in the sea-lane. Due to its narrowness and shallow depths, the Straits already attracted considerable safety and environmental concerns. These factors motivated the IMO to work in consultation with the littoral states to develop a scheme that would aim at ensuring safety, security and environmental protection through the Straits. These efforts culminated in the convening of the IMO sponsored meetings in cooperation with the littoral states in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore to enhance maritime safety, security and environmental protection. The first meeting was held in Jakarta in 2005 (Jakarta Meeting), followed by the Kuala Lumpur Meeting in 2006 and concluded with the Singapore Meeting in 2007.

During the Kuala Lumpur Meeting, the littoral states had narrowed down the agenda of the meeting to maritime safety and environmental protection. They had successfully maintained that maritime security, including issues on acts of piracy and armed robberies at sea, arc matters that should entirely be within the competence of the littoral states. Furthermore, enough cooperative measures had been taken together by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore to sufficiently ensure maritime security in the straits and repress acts of piracy and armed robberies at sea. The joint efforts by the littoral states actions had even reduced occurrences of acts of piracy and armed robberies in the sea lane to the very minimum and there was practically no incident of security threat encountered. As a result, both the Kuala Lumpur and Singapore meetings focused entirely on maritime safety and environmental protection.

Subsequently, the idea of establishing a Cooperative Mechanism between the littoral states and users of the Straits to enhance safety of navigation and environmental protection was first introduced at the Kuala Lumpur Meeting in 2006. At the Singapore Meeting in 2007, the Cooperative Mechanism was fully endorsed by the user states and other users of the Straits and stakeholders, as well as the IMO.