The name "Malacca" is traditionally associated with the Malacca tree (Phyllanthus emblica), also known as the Indian gooseberry tree, and is believed to derive from the localMalay word "Melaka". According to historical traditions,Parameswara, aSumatran prince and the founder of theMalacca Sultanate, selected the site for his new kingdom where the city ofMalacca now stands. It is said that he named the location "Melaka" after the Malacca tree under which he had rested. Over time, the name "Malacca" came to refer not only to the city but also to the strategically significant waterway between theMalay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra, known as the Malacca Strait.[3]
Early traders fromArabia,Africa,Persia, andsouthern India reachedKedah before arriving atGuangzhou. Kedah served as a western port on theMalay Peninsula. They traded glassware,camphor, cotton goods,brocades,ivory,sandalwood, perfume, and precious stones. These traders sailed to Kedah via themonsoon winds between June and November. They returned between December and May. Kedah provided accommodations, porters, small vessels, bamboo rafts, elephants, as well as tax collections for goods to be transported overland toward eastern ports of the Malay Peninsula such asLangkasuka andKelantan. After the tenth century, ships from China began to trade at these eastern trading posts and ports. Kedah andFunan were famous ports throughout the 6th century, before shipping began to use the Strait of Malacca itself as a trade route.
Malacca Strait
In the 7th century, the maritime empire ofSrivijaya, based inPalembang,Sumatra, rose to power, and its influence expanded to the Malay Peninsula andJava. The empire gained effective control of two major choke points in maritime Southeast Asia: the Strait of Malacca and theSunda Strait. By launching a series of conquests and raids on potential rival ports on both sides of the strait, Srivijaya ensured its economic and military domination in the region, which lasted about 700 years. Srivijaya gained great benefits from the lucrative spice trade, e.g. the tributary trade system with China, and trade with Indian and Arab merchants. The Strait of Malacca became an important maritime trade route between India and China. The importance of the Strait of Malacca in global trade networks continued well into later centuries with the rise of theMalacca Sultanate in the 15th century, theJohor Sultanate, theStraits Settlements, and the modern city-state ofSingapore.
Since the 17th century, the strait has been the main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Various major regional powers have managed the straits during different historical periods.[5]
From an economic and strategic perspective, the Strait of Malacca is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.
The strait is the main shipping channel between theIndian Ocean and thePacific Ocean, linking major Asian economies such asIndia,Thailand,Indonesia,Malaysia,Philippines,Singapore,Vietnam,China,Japan,Taiwan, andSouth Korea. The Strait of Malacca is part of theMaritime Silk Road that runs from the Chinese coast towards the southern tip ofIndia toMombasa, from there through theRed Sea via theSuez Canal to the Mediterranean, there to the upperAdriatic region to the northern Italian hub ofTrieste with its rail connections toCentral Europe and theNorth Sea.[6][7][8][9] Over 94,000 vessels[10] pass through the strait each year (2008) making it the busiest strait in the world,[11] carrying about 25% of the world's traded goods, including oil, Chinese manufactured products, coal, palm oil andIndonesian coffee.[12] About a quarter of all oil carried by sea passes through the strait, mainly fromPersian Gulf suppliers to Asian markets. In 2007, an estimated 13.7 millionbarrels per day were transported through the strait, increasing to an estimated 15.2 million barrels per day in 2011.[13] In addition, it is also one of the world's most congested shippingchoke points because it narrows to only 2.8 km (1.5nautical miles) wide at the Phillip Channel (close to southernSingapore).[13]
Thedraught of some of the world's largest ships (mostlyoil tankers) exceeds the Strait's minimum depth of 25 metres (82 ft). This shallow point occurs in theSingapore Strait. The maximum size of a vessel that can pass through the Strait is referred to as theMalaccamax. The next closest passageway to the east, theSunda Strait between Sumatra and Java, is even shallower and narrower, meaning that ships exceeding the Malaccamax must detour a few thousandnautical miles and use theLombok Strait,Makassar Strait,Sibutu Passage, andMindoro Strait instead.
The strategic significance of the strait has led to security concerns for major trading nations, particularly China. In 2003, Chinese presidentHu Jintao coined the term "Malacca dilemma" to describe China's vulnerability to potential disruptions in energy supplies transiting the strait. With roughly 80% of China's imported crude oil passing through this narrow maritime corridor, Chinese policymakers have identified the strait as a critical chokepoint. The concept has since influenced China’s foreign policy, leading to investments in alternative energy routes and maritime security initiatives.[14][15]
TheUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) states that each coastal state has their territorial waters from the baseline and 12 nautical miles out.[16] The UNCLOS framework’s legal limits to maritime boundaries has at times heightened tensions in the Strait of Malacca.[17] An example of this can be seen from several pirate attacks in the 1990's and 2000's which took place in the territorial waters of Indonesia and were thus classified as armed robberies, notpiracy. Indonesia lacked resources to tackle the pirates and thus territorial rivalry heightened in the area. The increase in tension made it easier for pirates to evade law enforcement by traversing maritime border in order to avoid capture.[17]
Due to its significant role as a vital sea lane in global trade, security in the Strait of Malacca is of great importance to several countries besides those that border it. Threats in the region are shaped bypiracy,smuggling, geopolitical tension, and environmental threats like pollution and ecosystem degradation. Some of these challenges have seen a decrease in numbers, but some challenges still remain. Mainly with regards to international cooperation and environmental stability.[18]
In 2005 the Strait of Malacca andStrait of Singapore were declared as high-risk areas due to attacks against passing vessels. The designation was later removed due to regional cooperation and naval patrols. However, in January 2025 it was reported that significant maritime security risks had risen. Passing ships are still advised to proceed with adequate security measures.[19]
Efforts to enhance maritime security in the region are often caught in the struggle between state sovereignty and the need to further international security cooperation. The states bordering the Strait of Malacca have historically been reluctant to surrender some of their sovereign control over their territorial waters andexclusive economic zone (EEZ), especially related to safe and free passage of ships, where they are not allowed to interfere.[20]
Regional cooperation such as with the Cooperative Mechanism have contributed to reducing security threats and pollution, but in order to maintain and have consistent security in the region, greater coordination is needed between the states of the Strait of Malacca to secure the maritime domain.[18]
List of international organisations and agreements
Malacca Strait Patrols: A cooperative security initiative launched in 2004. It includes Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The main focus of the framework is to coordinate joint naval patrols, surveillance and intelligence exchange.[21]
MALSINDO: A trilateral agreement between the three coastal states in the Strait of Malacca with a focus on deterring pirates through naval patrols.[22]
Yearlyhaze from the smoke of raging bush fires, limiting visibility.
Piracy has been a problem in the strait. Piracy had been high in the 2000s, with additional increase after the events of September 11, 2001.[24] After attacks rose again in the first half of 2004, regional navies stepped up their patrols of the area in July 2004. Subsequently, attacks on ships in the Strait of Malacca dropped, to 79 in 2005 and 50 in 2006.[25] Attacks have dropped to near zero in recent years.[26]
There are 34 shipwrecks, some dating to the 1880s, in the local TSS channel (the channel for commercial ships under the globalTraffic Separation Scheme). These pose a collision hazard in the narrow and shallow strait.[27]
On 20 August 2017, theUnited States NavydestroyerUSS John S. McCain lost ten of its crew's lives in acollision with the merchant shipAlnic MC a short distance east of the strait whilst full steering capabilities had been lost. The ship had made a series of errors in attempted mitigation, its external lights being changed to "red over red" ("vessel not under command").[28]
Thailand has developed plans to divert much of the strait's traffic and hence some of its economic significance to a shorter route: the Thai government has several times proposedcutting a canal through theIsthmus of Kra, saving around 960 kilometres (600 mi) from the journey between the two oceans.China has offered to cover the costs, according to a report leaked toThe Washington Times in 2004. Nevertheless, and despite the support of several Thai politicians, the prohibitive financial and ecological costs suggest that the canal will not be built.
An alternative is to install apipeline across theIsthmus of Kra to carry oil to ships waiting on the other side. Proponents calculate it would cut the cost of oil delivery toAsia by about $0.50/barrel ($3/m3).Myanmar has also made a similar pipeline proposal.
^Malaccamax. As the name suggests, Malaccamax ships are the largest ships that can pass through the Strait of Malacca which is 25 metres (82 feet) deep at its shallowest. As per the current permissible limits, a Malaccamax vessel can have a maximum length of 400 m (1,312 ft), beam of 59 m (193.6 ft), and draught of 14.5 m (47.6 ft).Comparison of Tanker sizes
^ab"World Oil Transit Chokepoints"(PDF).www.eia.gov. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). 2014.Archived(PDF) from the original on 22 November 2014. Retrieved28 April 2018.
^Chen, Shaofeng (February 2010). "China's Self-Extrication from the "Malacca Dilemma" and Implications".International Journal of China Studies.1:1–24.
^Akram, Qudsia; Fareed, Munaza (2019). "China's Malacca Dilemma: Power Politics in Indian Ocean".Journal of Politics and International Studies.5 (2):29–44.
^Bueger & Edmunds, Christian & Timothy (23 May 2024).Understanding Maritime Security. Oxford Academic. pp. 30–59.
^abMcCabe, Robert C. (2008).Modern Maritime Piracy: Genesis, Evolution and Responses. Routledge. pp. 276–277.ISBN978-1-138-05944-3.
^Nachmani, Amikam (8 November 2003).Turkey: facing a new millennium: Coping with Intertwined Conflicts (Europe in Change). Manchester, United Kingdom: Manchester University Press.ISBN9780719063701.
Borschberg, Peter, "The value of Admiral Matelieff's writings for the history of Southeast Asia, c. 1600–1620",Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 48(3), pp. 414–435.doi:10.1017/S002246341700056X
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