It includesKeppel Harbour and many small islands. The strait provides the deepwater passage to thePort of Singapore, which makes it very busy. Approximately 2,000 merchant ships traverse the waters on a daily basis in 2017.[3] The depth of the Singapore Strait limits the maximumdraft of vessels going through the Straits of Malacca, and theMalaccamax ship class.
Aerial panorama of the Singapore Strait and the Pasir Panjang Port Terminal, 2016Aerial perspective of Kusu Island, one of the southern islands found in the Singapore Straits, 2016
The 9th century ADMuslim authorYa'qubi referred aBahr Salahit or Sea of Salahit (from the Malayselat meaning strait), one of theSeven Seas to be traversed to reach China. Some have interpreted Sea of Salahit as referring to Singapore,[4] although others generally considered it theMalacca Strait, a point of contact between the Arabs and theZābaj (likely Sumatra).[5] Among early Europeans travellers to South East Asia, theStrait of Singapore may refer to the whole or the southern portion of theStrait of Malacca as well as other stretches of water.[6] Historians also used the term in plural, "Singapore Straits", to refer to three or four different straits found in recorded in old texts and maps – the Old Strait of Singapore betweenSentosa andTelok Blangah, the New Strait of Singapore southwest of Sentosa, the "Governor's Strait" or "Strait of John de Silva" which corresponds to Phillip Channel, and theTebrau Strait.[7] Today the Singapore Strait refers to the main channel of waterway south of Singapore where the international border between Singapore and Indonesia is located.
Pilot guides and charts of the Malacca and Singapore straits have been published for a considerable time due to the nature of the straits[9][10][11][12]
In 2009, theMaersk Kendal was grounded on the Monggok Sebarok reef.[14]
In 2024,ReCAAP reported targeted stealing of engine spares by pirates as unique to the Singapore andMalacca Straits, indicating the possibility of ablack market.[15]
In 2025, a major increase in piracy incidents was reported in the Singapore Straits by The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre. These have included boardings and violent armed robberies of cargo ships. Over 60% of global piracy occurred in the Singapore Straits in this year.[16]
^Singapore. Maritime and Port Authority; Singapore. Maritime and Port Authority. Hydrographic Dept (1998),Singapore Strait, Hydrographic Dept., Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, retrieved12 May 2012[permanent dead link]
Borschberg, Peter, "Singapura in Early Modern Cartography: A Sea of Challenges", inVisualising Space. Maps of Singapore and the Region. Collections from the National Library and National Archives of Singapore (Singapore: NLB, 2015): 6–33.
Borschberg, Peter, "Singapore in the Cycles of the Longue Duree",Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 90 (1) (2017), pp. 32–60.
Gibson-Hill, Carl-Alexander, "Singapore: Note on the History of the Old Straits, 1580–1850",Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 27.1 (1954): 165–214.
