ABSTRACT
The Malacca Strait is one of the most important choke points in the world, lying between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. It links the Indian Ocean with the Pacific Ocean via the South China Sea and is particularly important for the movement of petroleum from the Middle East to Asia Pacific. Completion of the passage from west to east then requires a sharp turn through the narrow Singapore Strait. These statistics indicate that in terms of tonnage transiting it, the Malacca Strait is second only to Dover. This issue was finally defused in 1974 by the start of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) III negotiations which, by 1982, had reached broad agreement on many of the issues concerning straits. In contrast, the Russian Pacific Fleet has left the Indian Ocean and the US Fleet has lost its main base in the Philippines.
