Bangkok--1 Jun--Thai Business News
On June 1, 2006, a presentation ceremony for a training ship, built by The Nippon Foundation for the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), was held at Port Klang, Malaysia. At the ceremony the ship, named "MARLIN," was presented to Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak by foundation Chairman Yohei Sasakawa. MARLIN weighs 270 gross tons, is 40 meters long and 7.2 meters wide, carries up to 29 crew members, and cost 830 million yen to build.
MMEA is a new organization with coast guard functions. It was established in 2005 to control smuggling, illegal immigrants and piracy, and is expected to grow to a workforce of 4,000 in the future.
The Strait of Malacca, which includes the Malaysian territorial waters, is an important channel through which 80% of Japan's petroleum imports passes. It is also important to China, which has become a major importer of natural resources in recent years. The channel is a lifeline for Asia.
To ensure safety in the Strait of Malacca, the Nippon Foundation has been supporting measures for navigational safety in the Strait since 1968, including installing navigational aids such as lighthouses and buoys and conducting hydrographic surveys. The Foundation's cumulative aid to the Strait totals 13.8 billion yen. In 2001, the Foundation donated the 900 gross ton PEDMAN, a ship for laying and maintaining navigational aids, to the Malaysian government. In 2002, it gave a similar ship, "JADAYAT" (860 gross tons) to the Indonesian government. The Nippon Foundation also leads the world in measures against piracy, which is regarded as a serious problem around the Strait of Malacca. The Foundation funded an international conference for measures against piracy held in Tokyo in 2001 as well as top-level meetings of Asian maritime security agencies held in 2004 and 2006.
In 2005, Chairman Yohei Sasakawa proposed to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that a new framework for securing safety in the Strait of Malacca be established, commenting, "Navigational safety is no longer free. Countries that use the Strait must cooperate with coastal countries and pay their share of the costs."
CONTACT: The Nippon Foundation
Keiko Mori, +81-3-6229-5131
Email: [email protected]
http://www.nippon-foundation.or.jp/eng/
Source: Thai Business News Press Release