Malacca Strait depth altered after tsunami
The Star/ ANN, Kuala Lumpur
The depth in certain stretches of the narrow Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, has changed slightly following the huge earthquake and killer waves, which struck off Indonesia last month, according to the Malaysian navy. But the busy strait is safe for navigation as the changes were "insignificant", Assistant Chief of Staff (plans and operations) Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin told yesterday's edition of The Star. "In certain areas, the change is just 0.2 meters while in the deep areas where the depth is about 100 meters (300 feet), the difference is between one to two meters," he said. "A ship normally has a draft of six meters and there is normally 30 meters below the draft. So there is no possibility that a ship will run aground," he added. The narrow waterway, which separates peninsular Malaysia from the Indonesian island of Sumatra and links the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea, is used by some 50,000 ships a year carrying a third of world trade and half its oil supplies.
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