Malacca Strait Traffic Volume and Incident Rates
Introduction
An IALA Seminar on IWRAP Mk II is planned for April 20-24 in Kuala Lumpur. During the seminar, a case study of the Malacca strait will be performed.
Som historical information relating to the Malacca strait has been gathered here for the benefit of the case study.
For facts about the Malacca VTS system see Malacca and Singapore Strait VTS.
Volume of Traffic
See Malacca Strait Volume of Traffic for details of the traffic passing the Malacca strait.
In summary, the number of ships reporting to the Malacca strait VTS are:
| Year | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. Vessels | 43965 | 55957 | 59314 | 60034 | 62334 | 63636 | 62621 | 65649 | 70718 |
(Source: Marine Department of Malaysia)
Incident Rates
KEMALANGAN KAPAL DAN BOT 2001 - 2007 (Total of accident of ship and boat year 2001 - 2007)
Please note that the geographic scope of these numbers is unknown, but it is believed that the numbers represent all accidents within the Marine Department area of responsibility (all Malaysia).
| TAHUN (Year) |
LANGGAR (Collisions?) |
KARAM (Wreck) |
KANDAS ("Stranded") |
KEBAKARAN (Fire) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 15 | 38 | 4 | 6 |
| 2002 | 11 | 28 | 7 | 10 |
| 2003 | 17 | 21 | 4 | 3 |
| 2004 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| 2005 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 4 |
| 2006 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| 2007 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 4 |
| Average | 10.4 | 16.1 | 3.0 | 4.4 |
(Source: Marine Department of Malaysia)
Averaged incident rates:
| Periode | LANGGAR (Collisions?) |
KARAM (Wreck) |
KANDAS ("Stranded") |
KEBAKARAN (Fire) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-2007 | 10.4 | 16.1 | 3.0 | 4.4 |
| 2001-2003 | 14.3 | 29.0 | 5.0 | 6.3 |
| 2004-2007 | 7.5 | 6.5 | 1.5 | 3.0 |
From the above, it seems that the accident rates were considerably higher during 2001-2003 compared with 2004-2007.
The reason for this is believed to be the creation of a new agency (a kind of a Coast Guard) which mission it is to enforce rules and regulations in the maritime domain. This was particularly relevant for non-SOLAS vessels, according to the Malaysia Marine Department (Mr. Nordin).
Previous Case study 1978-1994
A case study made some years ago can be found on the internet.
Some relevant facts from this study are given in Malacca_Case_Study_1974-1994.