More than 125 countries and organizations joined the Southeast Asian nations at the 17th Cooperation Forum held in Singapore, a multilateral mechanism aimed at furthering efforts for the safety of navigation and environmental protection in the straits.
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow shipping corridor, stretching 900 km in length, between the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the west and Malaysia and Thailand to the east, with Singapore at the southern end.
It is adjacent to the Singapore Strait. Together they form a continuous shipping channel connecting the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, through which more than 100,000 vessels carrying roughly 25 percent of global trade and almost a third of the world’s oil and gas supplies pass annually.
In a joint statement, Indonesia, Malaysia and the city-state “reaffirmed their shared commitment to keep the Straits of Malacca and Singapore free, open and safe” for international shipping.
There were media speculations over the possibility of the passage’s blockade earlier this year, as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz caused by US-Israeli military operations that began on Feb. 28 triggered an energy crisis in much of Asia, leading to comparisons between the major shipping lanes.
“Events in the Middle East this year reminded the world that open sea lanes can never be taken for granted,” Singapore’s Minister of Transport Jeffrey Siow said in his opening remarks at the forum.
“For more than five decades, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and our partners have collaborated closely, and the result is peace and prosperity. At a time when geo-strategic conflict and economic competition around the world is intensifying, our experience in these Straits shows that there can be a different way.”
Malacca is the world’s largest “oil transit chokepoint,” where oil trade flows surpass that in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
In the first half of 2025, some 23 million barrels of oil per day were transported through it, making up around 29 percent of total maritime oil flows. Hormuz comes second, with about 20.9 million bpd passing through the strait during the same period.
The straits have been managed through cooperation with partners, according to Siow, highlighting Japan’s key contribution to the three countries’ technical capabilities, as well as funding and expertise from China, the US, and partners across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
“Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has now fallen to less than a tenth of pre-conflict levels. Vessels continue to be attacked there, in spite of UNCLOS, which guarantees the right of transit passage for ships and aircraft,” Siow said, referring to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“Safe and open waterways are global commons that we must continue to uphold through international law and mutual collaboration.”