THREE LITTORAL COUNTRIES STEP UP SECURITY IN MALACCA STRAIT

Jakarta, March 5 (ANTARA) - Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have stepped up security in the Malacca Strait following indications of a terrorist threat against tankers passing through the strait.

The three countries and Thailand have been engaged in coordinated patrols in one of the world's busiest waterways, Rear Admiral Marsetio, chief of the Indonesian Western Fleet Command, said here on Friday.

"We share a common interest in keeping the Malacca Strait safe ," he said after leading a transfer of office ceremony of the Naval Main Base Command III Jakarta.

The four countries continued to coordinate with each other in guarding the Malacca Strait by carrying out sea and aerial patrols, he said.

Singapore's navy had perceived "indications" that a terrorist group was planning attacks on oil tankers in the Malacca Strait, according to an advisory Thursday from its Information Fusion Center.

The 600-mile (965-kilometer) long Malacca Strait, located between Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra, is used by more than 90,000 vessels every year. It is the shortest sea route between the Persian Gulf and North Asia, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

An estimated 15 million barrels of oil per day passed through the channel in 2006, about a third of the global seaborne volume. Nearly half of the world's shipping fleet would need to reroute if the strait was blocked, the EIA said.

Coordinated patrols by Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand in the Malacca Strait had already resulted in a reduction of about 70 percent in the marine crime rate in the waterway.