Jakarta. Indonesia and Singapore have promised not to prevent ships from passing through the Strait of Malacca, despite their geographic control over the waterway that handles a third of the world’s trade.

The US-Iran war has exposed how geopolitical tensions can shock global shipping and energy supplies, as Tehran’s retaliatory blockade of the Strait of Hormuz drags on. 

Speaking at a news conference after their annual leaders’ retreat on Monday, President Prabowo Subianto and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong vowed not to close the Malacca Strait. The two nations, coupled with Malaysia and Thailand, flank the 900-kilometer sea channel.

“We have common interests in keeping the Strait of Malacca accessible to all. We must maintain the peace. It must be free from pollution, accidents, and piracy,” Prabowo said at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. 

Wong later spent almost a minute talking about the need to keep the Strait of Malacca open for all, while adding that what goes on in the Middle East has had implications for his country and the waterway. He refreshed the governments’ commitments to the 1982 UNCLOS, the customary international maritime law that declares that fees for mere transits are strictly illegal.

“We both share interests in upholding navigational rights and freedoms and keeping sea lines of communications open to all, including the unimpeded right of transit passage of vessels,” Wong explained.

They will work with Thailand and Malaysia to ensure smooth traffic.

The Strait of Malacca handles energy shipments from the Middle East and Africa to key Asian markets, particularly China.

Just a few months ago, an ill-received joke by Indonesia’s Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa fueled regional concerns. Purbaya had jokingly floated a plan about taxing ships transiting the waterway. Jakarta quickly clarified that its no-levy stance remained unchanged. In his briefing with Wong, Prabowo told the press that both nations had agreed to “openly resolve any misunderstanding or misperception as friends”.

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