MALAYSIA’S TRANS PENINSULAR PIPELINE PROJECT: WILL IT TAKE OFF?
MALAYSIA’S TRANS Peninsular Pipeline Project (TPP) between Kedah on the west coast and Kelantan on the east seems to have been revived. First proposed in 1994, the project had experienced some difficulties in the initial years and came to a halt in 2010. If realised, the 310-km pipeline will move oil from the coastal city of Yan in Kedah to Bachok in Kelantan and out to the South China Sea.
The New Straits Times reported that during the Fifth World Chinese Economic Forum held in Kuala Lumpur in October 2013, China had shown interest to revive the privately-funded TPP, estimated to cost more than US$7 billion. Chinese President Xi Jinping has yet to confirm how this is to be carried out.

How the pipeline will work

To revive the TPP, the Kedah state government planned to restart the Sungai Limau Hydrocarbon Hub Project in Yan that was suspended in 2010. Estimated to cost US$15.6 billion, this project is still at the planning stage. Will this new interest from China succeed in turning the pipeline into reality?
The main driving force of this project is the rapid growth in demand for crude oil in East Asia, which is expected to double from its current level by the year 2020. The Malaysian federal government has planned to tap into this growing demand by building pipelines across the peninsula, cutting through the Titiwangsa Range.
Vessels from the Middle East will be able to unload their oil cargoes at Yan where they will be refined and subsequently transported through the Malaysian hinterland to the other side of the peninsular. At the Bachok station in Kelantan, the refined oil will be loaded onto another vessel waiting for shipment to buyers in East Asia.
This pipeline would eventually ease the congestion in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore and the burden of accommodating increasing shipping traffic. Annually, oil tankers and very large crude carriers (VLCC) comprise 26% of the total shipping transits in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. Commodities like crude oil that could pose a threat to the sensitive marine environment of the waterways will also no longer be ferried in a large amount via the Straits. Further, shipments via TPP will reduce the time to transport oil compared to the normal voyage of a vessel through the Strait of Malacca.
Once fully operational, this project is expected to save up to three days of transit time and is anticipated to reduce the cost of shipments of crude oil by US$1.50 per barrel. Ships may also be less exposed to the risk of piracy in the waterway, while shipping traffic in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore will be reduced by 25%.
Transportation of oil via pipelines is not unusual in the petroleum industry. The concept of the TPP is similar to the SUMED Pipeline in Egypt that transports oil from the Gulf of Suez to the Mediterranean Sea. The SUMED pipeline allows shipping companies to save time and costs. To reduce dependence on the Hormuz Strait, oil pipelines have also been built to transport oil in the Persian Gulf.

Challenges facing TPP

Although the TPP is generally viewed as a viable option, analysts point out that coastal waters are generally shallow near Peninsula Malaysia, making it difficult for large tankers to dock. Even worse, monsoon rains degrade the sea conditions along the Kelantan coast where Bachok is located.
Secondly, unlike the terrain in the Middle East which mostly consists of desert low lands, the northern parts of Peninsular Malaysia where the pipelines would cross are covered with thick jungles in the midst of highlands. Therefore, the construction of the pipeline would be more complicated. Oil would have to be pumped up the 2,000 m-high Titiwangsa Mountains, using a part of the transported oil to supply the necessary power for pumping.
Thirdly, the TPP project could result in adverse environmental impacts should there be a leakage of oil in any parts of the line. This would then affect Malaysian groundwater and worse still, a fire could take place along the length of the pipe, should such leakages occur. Fourthly, the TPP could also directly and indirectly pose a threat to the security of the country should there be a sabotage or terrorist attacks on any part of the pipelines.
The TPP project may face a number of challenges. With the ongoing fluctuations in global oil prices, it would possibly be difficult to attract investors, namely promoters of the project, the shippers and oil companies to make investments on the project.
While the TPP could reduce the volume of shipping traffic in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, there are still a number of reasons to show that there is actually no need to bypass the Straits. Firstly, in the event of a blockade of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore due to accidents involving tankers or any other reasons, the Sunda and Lombok-Makassar Straits routes would be available as alternative, albeit more expensive routes.
Secondly, although traffic congestion in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore is building up, the existence of state-of the-art navigational safety facilities along the Straits would ensure the safe passage of vessels plying the waterways. Thirdly, recent records have shown that piracy activities have dropped significantly in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. Therefore, there is no need to transport oil via the pipeline to avoid pirate attacks in the first place.

Pros and cons needed to be weighed

It is not entirely clear whether or not oil shipment using the TPP would be cheaper than going through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. Some commentators argue that voyage time and shipping costs could be shaved if oil companies opt to use the TPP once it is ready. Nevertheless, it should be borne in mind that plying through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore would not incur any transit fee upon mariners while shipment fees will be imposed should they choose to use the TPP.
Until the cost-benefit of using the TPP is thoroughly evaluated, the economic justification to bypass the Straits of Malacca and Singapore to ship oil via the TPP would always be in question. The TPP project has experienced many challenges and difficulties owing to the recent global economic downturn and the instability of global oil price.
Although China has recently shown interest to invest in such a project, this mega undertaking has its pros and cons that should be considered carefully by the Malaysian government and the shipping industry
Mohd Hazmi bin Mohd Rusli and Rahmat Mohamad ‘Malaysia’s Trans Peninsula Pipeline Project: Will it Take Off? Albany Tribune (January 2014)
Friday, January 24, 2014 | Category: | 0 comments

Glorious past of Malay seafarers

OPEN-SEAS POLICY: For centuries, the Malay Archipelago was known worldwide as the cradle of maritime civilisation, write Dr Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli and Dr Rahmat Mohamad



THE people of the Malay race were great seafarers and had expanded their influence in Nusantara through a number of maritime empires that once dominated Southeast Asia. Facilitated by the concept of the open seas (mare liberum), trade flourished among kingdoms within this region.
The Malays have been advocating mare liberum or freedom of the seas long before it was propagated by Hugo Grotius in 1609, a renowned Dutch scholar whom most have regarded as the father of international law. Is freedom of the seas in the Malay Archipelago a forgotten "international custom"?
The Malay Archipelago or Nusantara, as it is known in modern times, is the largest archipelago in the world, extending from Sumatra in the west to the Spice Islands in the east. This region has been an important connector between two of the world's greatest civilisations, namely China and India. For centuries, the Malay Archipelago was known throughout the world as the cradle of maritime civilisation.
Based on archaeological findings, the earliest Malay port that existed within the Malay Archipelago was Takuapa, or Langkasuka, which emerged some time in the third century AD. By the 5th century AD, the Jiecha kingdom, otherwise known as the Old Kedah, was established in areas south of the modern-day Malaysian state of Kedah. Jiecha was once a prosperous transit port for ships from Arabia, Persia and India, before continuing their voyage to the east. The people of Jiecha were actively engaged in trade with these foreign merchants.
By the seventh century AD, however, Pan-Pan, Langkasuka and Jiecha were subjugated to the dominance of the powerful Malay kingdom of Srivijaya. The capital of Srivijaya was Palembang, situated almost equidistant from the Straits of Malacca and the Straits of Sunda. This was the first empire that managed to control these two maritime choke points in Southeast Asia and the trade activities that took place along the length of these waterways by compelling passing vessels to call at Srivijaya ports and levying port dues and taxes upon them.
Srivijaya participated actively in a growing world economy at that time and prospered well by engaging in extensive commerce involving camphor, cloves, sandalwood, nutmegs and other valuable commodities with traders and merchants from different parts of Asia, namely China, India and the Middle East.
The core economic and political power in the Malay Archipelago shifted from Sumatra to Java in 1293 AD. Majapahit territories expanded significantly in the 13th century AD throughout the Malay Archipelago, which included Sumatra and the Malay peninsula, Borneo, Celebes, Moluccas and Mindanao.
It generated wealth through agricultural produce, particularly rice production, and also through maritime trade that went through its archipelagic straits. With such large territories, Majapahit traders accumulated raw materials from its hinterland to be traded in its port.
These included pepper, salt and coconut oil from Java, spices from the Moluccas, ivory from Sumatra, tin and lead from the Malay peninsula to be exchanged with textiles from India and porcelain products from China. Between the 12th and 13th centuries, Majapahit replaced Srivijaya and became a foremost centre of commerce in the Malay Archipelago.
Malacca was the next kingdom to take command in controlling trade in the Malay Archipelago after the fall of Majapahit. This kingdom had a profound influence on the Straits of Malacca, so much so that the name of this once powerful sultanate is immortalised in the waterway that the sultanate dominated for more than a century. In late 14th century, Malacca began to increase in influence and importance, especially in the maritime arena. This was because of its strategic location nestled comfortably along the length of the Straits of Malacca, with the advantage of being sheltered from the ferocious monsoonal currents. It consequently had a safe harbour, which made it a perfect haven for seafarers waiting for the change of monsoonal winds to travel eastward or to the west.
Malacca grew not only into a prosperous international port but also a regional maritime empire. Malacca engaged in diplomatic and commercial relationships with other states within the region, namely China, Java, Siam and India. The Sultanate of Malacca prospered until 1511 as a crucial link in world trade. It was said that the population of the port of Malacca before the fall of the sultanate was probably around 100,000, and thus was as large as other European cities at that time, such as Naples and Paris. Malacca's glorious moments were short-lived with the arrival of the Portuguese in the region in the early 16th century.
These brief historical episodes have shown that the Malays have been practising mare liberum in engaging trade with other nations long before Grotius came up with that concept.
As skilful seafarers, the Malays have, in the past, dominated the seas. During its golden epoch, the influence of the Malay kingdom of Srivijaya was so great that it reached as far as Madagascar to the west. The people of Makassar have sailed to Arnhem Land in Australia to trade with the aboriginal community as early as the 17th century.
During the colonial era, there was opposition  by the local Malay kingdoms against the Dutch practice of monopoly in the East Indies (Indonesia).
For example, Sultan Hassanudin of Gowa in Makassar had always been rebellious against the Dutch monopoly of trade in the East Indies.
He believed that in the mind of God, there was no predestination of the East Indies to be exploited and monopolised by the European commercial interests only. The order by the Dutch forbidding the local Makassar Malays to sail the seas was a matter unheard of in the eyes of the sultan.   
These examples clearly show that mare liberum has always been exercised as an international custom by the people of the Malay Archipelago.
It is an established fact that the kingdoms within the Malay Archipelago have for centuries practised mare liberum even before Grotius came out with his world renowned book on the freedom of the seas.
History has shown that even though kingdoms in Southeast Asia kept changing, trading activities between these kingdoms and other Asian realms were still taking place. The active trading activities within this region show that besides the Europeans, the Asians, namely the Chinese, Indians, Arabs and the Malays, too, were practising the concept of freedom of the seas.
Unfortunately, for the Malays, their glorious past as great empire builders and seafarers was not properly documented.
Ever since its downfall in the 12th century AD, the pre-eminence of Srivijaya as an influential trading nation was long forgotten and was never even believed to have existed by the Malays.
It was not until the 19th century that the existence of Srivijaya was acknowledged by historians, alongside Majapahit and Malacca. It is because of this reason that mare liberum in the Malay Archipelago remained largely as an unsung international custom



Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli and Rahmat Mohamad ‘Glorious Past of Malay Seafarers’ New Straits Times (January 2014)

Read More : NewStraitsTime, 6 January 2014


Friday, January 24, 2014 | Category: , | 0 comments

'freedom Of The Seas' In The Malay Archipelago: An Unsung International Custom
THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO

The Malay Archipelago or Nusantara, as it is popularly known, is the largest archipelago in the world, extending from Sumatra in the West to the Spice Islands in the East.

This region has been an important connecting factor between two of the world's greatest civilisations, namely China and India. For centuries, the Malay Archipelago was known throughout the world as the cradle of maritime civilisation.

Based on archaeological findings, the earliest Malay port, that existed within the Malay Archipelago, was Takuapa, or Langkasuka, which emerged sometime in the third century AD.

By the fifth century AD, the Jiecha Kingdom, otherwise known as the Old Kedah, was established in the area south of the modern day Malaysian State of Kedah.

Jiecha was once a prosperous transit port for ships from Arabia, Persia and India, before they continued their voyage to the East. The people of Jiecha were actively engaged in trade with foreign merchants.

SRIVIJAYA

By the seventh century AD, however, Pan-Pan, Langkasuka and Jiecha were subjugated to the dominance of the powerful Malay kingdom of Srivijaya.

The capital of Srivijaya was Palembang, situated almost equidistantly from the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Sunda.

This was the first empire that managed to control these two maritime choke points in Southeast Asia and the trade activities that took place along these waterways by compelling the passing vessels to call at the Srivijayan ports and by levying port dues and taxes upon them.

Srivijaya participated actively in a growing world economy at that time and prospered by engaging in extensive commerce in camphor, cloves, sandalwood, nutmegs and other valuable commodities with traders and merchants from different parts of Asia, namely China, India and the Middle-East.

MAJAPAHIT

The core economic and political power in the Malay Archipelago shifted from Sumatra to the island of Java in 1293 AD.

Majapahit territories expanded significantly in the thirteenth century AD throughout the Malay Archipelago which included Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Celebes, Moluccas and Mindanao.

It generated wealth through agricultural produce, particularly rice, and also through maritime trade that went through its archipelagic straits.

With such large territories, Majapahit traders accumulated raw materials from its hinterland to be traded at the port.

These included pepper, salt and coconut oil from Java, spices from the Moluccas, ivory from Sumatra, tin and lead from the Malay Peninsula to be exchanged with textiles from India and porcelain products from China.

 Between the 12th and the 13th centuries, Majapahit replaced Srivijaya and became the foremost centre of commerce in the Malay Archipelago.

 MALACCA

 Malacca was the next kingdom to take command in controlling trade in the Malay Archipelago after the fall of Majapahit.

 Established by a prince of the disintegrated Srivijayanempire, this kingdom had a profound influence on the Strait of Malacca, so much so that the name of this once powerful Sultanate is immortalised in the waterway that the Sultanate dominated for more than a century.

 In the late 14th century, Malacca began to increase its influence, especially in the maritime arena. This was due to its strategic location as it nestled comfortably along the length of the Strait of Malacca with the advantage of being sheltered from the ferocious monsoon currents.

 It consequently was considered a safe harbour, which made it a perfect haven for seafarers waiting for the change of monsoon winds to travel eastward or towards the west.

 Malacca grew not only into a prosperous international port, but also a regional maritime empire. Malacca engaged in diplomatic and commercial ties with other States within the region, namely China, Java, Siam and India.

 The Sultanate Malacca prospered until 1511 as a crucial link in world trade. It was said that the population of the port of Malacca before the fall of the Sultanate was probably around 100,000, and, thus, was as large as that of other European cities of the time such as Naples and Paris.

 Malacca's glorious moments were short-lived with the arrival of the Portuguese in the region in the early sixteenth century.

 The fall of Malacca led to the establishment of a number of relatively influential Malay empires, namely Johor, Aceh and Gowa.

 MARE LIBERUMIN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO

 These brief historical episodes have shown that the Malays have been Practicing mare liberum in engaging trade with other nations long before Hugo Grotius came up with that concept.

 As skillful seafarers, the Malays have in the past dominated the seas. During its golden epoch, the influence of the Malay kingdom of Srivijaya was so great that it reached as far as Madagascar to the west.

 The Malays, particularly the Makassaresehave, also sailed to Arnhem Land in Australia to trade with the aboriginal community as early as the seventeenth century AD.

 During the colonial era, there was opposition from the local Malay kingdoms against the Dutch practice of monopoly in the East Indies (Indonesia).

 For example, Sultan Hassanudin of Gowa in Makassar was always rebelling against the Dutch monopoly of trade in the East Indies.

 He believed that in the mind of God, there was no predestination of the East Indies to be exploited and monopolised by the European commercial interests only. The order by the Dutch forbidding the local Makassar Malays to sail the seas was a matter unheard of in the eyes of the Sultan.

 In the 2008 case of PedraBranca, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had in its first round of judgment pronounced that the Sultanate of Johor had original title to PedraBranca/PulauBatuPutih (PBP) and had this to say in reference to the unchallenged kingdom of Johor:

 Having considered the actual historical and geographical context of the present case relating to the old Sultanate of Johor, the Court concludes that as far as the territorial domain of the Sultanate of Johor was concerned, it did cover in principle, all the islands and islets within the Straits of Singapore, which lay in the middle of this kingdom and did, thus, include the Island of PedraBranca/PBP.

 This possession of the Islands by the Old Sultanate of Johor was never challenged by any other powers in the region and can in all circumstances be seen as satisfying the condition of "continuous and peaceful display of territorial sovereignty (peaceful in relation to other states)".

 Apart from the decision in the favour of the old Sultanate of Johor, the ICJ had also implied by asserting that Johor could have established its own customary Law of the Sea in practicing continuous and peaceful display of sovereignty within its territory.

 These examples clearly show that mare liberum has always been exercised as an international custom by the people of the Malay Archipelago
Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli and Rahmat Mohamad ‘Freedom of the Seas in the Malay Archipelago: An Unsung International Custom’ Bernama (January 2014)

Read More : Bernama , MohdHazmi Mohd Rusli and Rahmat Mohamad
Friday, January 24, 2014 | Category: , | 0 comments