Maritime sector has played a critical role for the growth and development of the Malaysia in facilitating global trade. Malaysia rely on the sector for the import and export of goods as around 90% of the nation trade is carried through maritime transportation. Although there are increasing in trade performance, Malaysian maritime industry is still facing a hard times to safeguard Malaysia's economic interests and to retain its competitive advantage as a leading maritime nation. Therefore, this paper aims to identify, analyses and evaluate the factors that influencing Malaysian maritime industry in remaining sustainable in global trade. In order to explain how the influencing factors affect the Malaysian maritime industry, a systematic hierarchical structure was developed. Then, by employed Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique, the priorities among various criteria was determined through the judgments of experts using a set of scales. The results of this study will assist the shipping entities to cope with those challenges and for Malaysia maritime sector to remain a key enabler of international trade.

Current marine navigational practice relies less on long-range visual marine signals such as lighthouses for reference purposes. This is due to the availability of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), which are integrated with other navigational aids on ships. Therefore, the objective of this study is to review the function of Pisang Island lighthouse and to propose the most relevant use of Pisang Island for current navigational needs. The function of the lighthouse was reviewed according to the IALA Navigational Guide and the AIS data image. The result showed that the most suitable navigational use of the lighthouse is to act as a reference for Line of Position (LOP). The AIS data image indicated that mariners are not using Pisang Island lighthouse for LOP. The trend in the Straits of Malacca (SoM) was compared with the trend in the Straits of Dover, UK. The selected experts verified that LOP was not practised there. As a specific example, a tanker ship route in the South China Sea was used to further support that LOP was not practised. This evidence supported the view that Pisang Island lighthouse is less relevant for current navigational practice and does not directly support the coastal state VTS operation and the establishment of the marine electronic highway. Furthermore, the existing shore-based VTS radar has limitations on range and the detection of targets near Pisang Island. Therefore, this study proposes the establishment of a new radar station on Pisang Island at the existing site of the lighthouse. The proposed new radar station on Pisang Island will add to the existing coverage of the VTS radar, bridging the coverage gaps to overcome the weakness of the existing shore-based radar and improve the safety and security of marine navigation in the SoM.