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A major initiative to enhance the security of the Malacca and Singapore Straits and the passage of ships along the sea lines of communications was launched on Tuesday by the 3 littoral states - Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia - together with Thailand.
It is called "Eyes in the Sky" with each of the littoral states and Thailand contributing two aircraft to conduct the patrolling.
Launching the initiative at the Subang Air Base in Kuala Lumpur was Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Najib Tun Razak, who first proposed the idea of multinational maritime air patrols, or "eyes in the sky" at the Singapore Shangri-La Dialogue in June this year.
Also at the event to launch the inaugural flight were Singapore's Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean and senior defence officials.
Mr Teo said: "This is an excellent example of how a scheme can be put in place which is practical, useful and serves the needs of security in the Malacca Straits."
A joint news release says an operation centre will be established in each of the participating states to coordinate the flight schedule.
Initially, each state will conduct up to 2 patrols per week along the designated sectors of the area of operation.
A monitoring and action agency will also be set up in each of the states to establish a listening watch during all flights.
They will subsequently coordinate among themselves to undertake any follow-on responses within their own territorial waters, if required.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Najib Tun Razak stressed the importance for the littoral states to send a strong signal to the international community that they were serious about the safety and security of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.
He said the "Eyes in the Sky" initiative would complement the on-going coordinated patrols by the three countries.
He described it as the first phase to enhance the safety and security of the straits.
The second phase, he said, could involve the international community at a later stage.
Mr Najib added that the operational concept of the initiative had also been finalised.
In particular, each patrol representative of the three littoral states would be on board the aircraft of whichever country undertaking the patrolling.
For the moment, Thailand would be an observer.
Maritime experts say 25 percent of the world's sea-borne trade and 50 percent of its oil supplies are carried through the Straits of Malacca and Straits of Singapore.
Concerns over the safety of the Straits have been in the limelight recently after the Lloyds Joint War Committee categorised them as a high risk zone for piracy and terrorism.
At a recent meeting in Batam, the foreign ministers of the three littoral states expressed regret over the categorisation.
They felt it had been done without consulting and taking into account the existing efforts of the littoral States to deal with the problems of safety of navigation and maritime security. - CNA /ch
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