A crucial element of safety for ships navigating the Straits is the aids to navigation that are put in place. The continued maintenance of aids to navigation remains a vital component of ensuring the safety of ships navigating through the Straits. There are currently no less that 51 aids to navigation installed within the Traffic Separation Scheme of the Straits to assist navigators. These are primarily installed by the littoral States and some through outside funding. In addition to the substantial funding provided by the littoral States, Japan remains the only user State that has been consistently providing financial assistance on a voluntary basis for the maintenance of critical aids to navigation in the Straits.
In order to ensure that there is long-term and sustainable means of financing the maintenance of critical aids to navigation in the Straits, a special fund for aids to navigation is set up as a component of the Cooperative Mechanism. The Aids to Navigation Fund will provide the means for all users of the Straits to contribute financially towards the maintenance of the aids to navigation in the Straits, such as light beacons and light buoys. In future, other aids to navigation in the Straits could also be identified for funding under the Aids to Navigation Fund.
Contributions to the Aids to Navigation Fund shall be on voluntary basis. Contributions may be received from States, industry, private benefactors, non-governmental organizations and inter-governmental organizations, including the IMO. The administration of the Aids to Navigation Fund is by the littoral States on a three year rotation basis. At this stage there will not be a permanent secretariat for the Aids to Navigation Fund.
There is the Aids to Navigation Fund Committee, comprising representatives from littoral States as well as invited contributors that manages the Fund in accordance with the best international financial practices of transparency and accountability. These include a clearly defined scope of the Fund, employment of an independent audit, annual reporting to the contributors and the disbursement of funds based on an approved work plan.
The detailed mechanics of administering and participating in the Aids to navigation Fund are explained in its terms of reference and the Rules of Procedures
2025 © Marine Department Malaysia.