Terrorists Target Tankers In Singapore

"Singapore Says Terror Attacks Planned on Tankers" reads the headline at the Bangkok Post's website.

The Strait of Malacca is best described as a "target rich environment": it is said that half of the World's merchant shipping tonnage passes through the Strait every year and tanker traffic is three times the volume of that through the Suez Canal.



The Strait of Malacca is about 1.5 miles wide at it's narrowest point and 75 feet deep at it's shallowest point which leaves little room to maneuver. In such confines, the types, sizes and kinds of boats and weapons required to make attacks would not have to be all that great. I recall reading somewhere that the larger crude carriers that transit these waters have as little as 20 feet between their keel and the bottom at some points which leaves little margin for error in the channel and makes mining the bottom of the Strait an easy and distinct possibility.

Parties interested in disrupting traffic in the Strait of Malacca might improvise mines or purchase/steal/otherwise procure bottom mines such as the Manta. The U.S.S. Princeton was damaged by a Manta in about 45 feet of water during Operation Desert Storm. While mining cannot be ruled out, small boat attacks are probably more likely and easier to mount.

The Strait of Malacca would be difficult to close but the bar to deny it to merchant traffic is fairly low. Attacks in the Strait have the potential to make an ecological and/or economic mess. Even a fairly minor incident might cause a spike in maritime insurance rates which could place an additional burden on the global economic recovery.

The current threat is part of a broader issue of World oil transit choke points.

It is only a matter of time before Al Qaeda gets a navy!

DISCLOSURE: This issue is near and dear to my bottom line: I hold shares of Knightsbridge Tankers, Ltd., Tsakos Energy Navigation, Stealth Gas, Inc., D.S. Torm and Golar LNG.

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