Thursday, February 24, 2011

Strait of Malacca

Ships as far as the eye can see waiting to transit the Strait. The Strait, which passes between the Malay Penninsula and the island of Sumatra, is the main shipping channel between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Twenty-five percent of all the world's traded goods and about one quarter of all the oil shipped by sea pass through the Strait. Close to Singapore the Strait narrows to only 1.5 miles creating one of the worst choke points for shipping in the world. It's also only 82 feet deep, not deep enough for the largest supertankers. In fact the biggest ships that can pass are referred to as Malaccamax. If you exceed Malaccamax size you need to take a different, longer route. The sight is really something. Like watching a huge traffic jam of every size and type of ship in the world.

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