MANAMA – Maritime nations are calling for stronger collective action to protect global shipping lanes, as tensions in the Strait of Hormuz continue to disrupt trade and raise fears that critical waterways could become permanent flashpoints.
At the Manama Dialogue, Singapore’s Acting Minister for Muslim Affairs and Senior Minister of State for Defence Zaqy Mohamad said the crisis showed that security cooperation had failed to keep pace with economic interdependence. “We must not allow insecurity to become the new normal,” he said on Nov 1.
Zaqy urged littoral states and major users of strategic waterways to lead efforts to safeguard maritime passage, supported by other nations dependent on global trade. He warned that accepting higher risks, longer routes and rising costs as routine would entrench maritime insecurity.
He proposed closer cooperation in three areas: timely sharing of threat information, readiness to act jointly, and protection of undersea infrastructure. “Maritime security is no longer just about the things we see,” he said, stressing the importance of cables and other infrastructure beneath the seas.
Singapore already cooperates with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand through the Malacca Straits Patrol, and contributes to international naval task forces in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. Zaqy said such partnerships reflect Singapore’s commitment to maritime security beyond its own region.
Bahrain and Greece have also pushed maritime security and freedom of navigation up the UN Security Council agenda. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said there was broad consensus that the issue required urgent attention, citing threats from both states and non-state actors using inexpensive technologies to disrupt shipping and undersea cables.
He noted that the Black Sea had become another major theatre of disruption because of the Russia-Ukraine war, with a Greek-owned container ship recently sunk there and Ukrainian grain shipments held up.
The Manama Dialogue ended amid concern that another US-Israeli attack on Iran could be imminent. Iran has threatened retaliation against Gulf states and US-aligned governments, while the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed to normal traffic. October recorded the highest number of attacks on shipping in a single month since the war began in late February.
Oil prices remain elevated, adding to global inflation pressures. Iran’s long shoreline along the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman gives it significant ability to interfere with commerce through Hormuz, and it also holds influence over traffic in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Red Sea through allied forces in Yemen.
For Southeast Asian nations such as Singapore, secure sea lanes are economic lifelines. Zaqy warned that restrictions on transit in Hormuz or Bab el-Mandeb must not be allowed to weaken navigational rights in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore or other strategic waterways.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said Indian seafarers in the Strait of Hormuz had been attacked by multiple actors, including in US strikes enforcing a naval blockade against Iranian exports. The deadliest incident occurred on June 10, when three Indian seafarers were killed in a US missile attack.