The complete disruption of global trade is just one sunken tanker away.
The Straits of Malacca link Asia with the Middle East and Europe. If there was any east-meets-west maritime point, it is this 900km mile stretch of waterway.
Around 40 percent of the world’s trade passes down this narrow strip.
For Beijing, the congested strait is a major artery in its economic heart. More than 80 percent of China’s crude oil imports travel from the Middle East through the Malacca Strait. It is the same for Japan and Korea.
For Singapore, its very survival depends on the 50,000 vessels that pass by each year. The city-state is the largest ship refueling port around and boasts the world’s busiest container terminals. Close the strait and Singapore would be hurt badly.
So it is hardly surprising that recent warnings by Singapore’s navy of possible attacks on oil tankers in the strait were taken very seriously.
Intelligence received by the navy a couple of weeks ago saw the alert level raised in the city and security beefed up along the waterway. Patrols and air surveillance were quickly stepped up.
No terror group was identified in the warnings.
While it may not be the easiest thing in the world to sink an oil tanker, to do so in the Straits of Malacca at the right point would be like dropping a wall across the waterway.
At its widest point, the straits are 350km across, but it is narrowest between Singapore and Sumatra where the strait is just three kilometers. To make matters worse, it is 25m deep at its shallowest point.
Drop a tanker in that small space and it could be tricky for vessels to wiggle past.
Fortunately, the straits do not suffer from the piracy problem plaguing the Sea of Aden that could be exploited by terror groups.
The littoral states of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore also provide joint security that protects shipping along the world’s most important east-west trade corridor.