Bilateral relationships between Malaysia and Indonesia have always been cordial, augmented largely by their shared ethno-cultural, value and religious affinity. Cooperation and collaboration initiatives and arrangement between the two countries are well-established in various fields, ranging from security, economic and trade, health to education. However, these friendly bilateral relationships have been occasionally marred by diplomatic frictions and protests arising from their disputes over overlapping claims to maritime territory and boundary. Among the most notable, intractable on-going maritime territorial and boundary disputes between the two countries occur in the Malacca Straits. In resolving these particularly dispute, diplomatic negotiation has been the most common and if not, the only dispute resolution mechanism adopted by the two countries. What make the scope of this study departs from the existing literature is the focus placed on examining the process of diplomatic negotiations between Malaysia and Indonesia for amicable resolution of the disputes. Diplomatic negotiation is arguably the preferred method to delimit contested maritime boundaries as it has its own advantages compare to other alternative peaceful methods. This qualitative study uses content analysis approach to investigate and appraise the background and process of diplomatic negotiation between Malaysia and Indonesia to reach final settlement of their territorial area and boundary disputes in the Malacca Straits. In analyzing the case, the theoretical tools used are negotiation theory, and bilateral theory. The selected respondents for this study are comprised of experts and practitioners attached to government agencies such as Maritime Malaysia Enforcement Agency and Institute Diplomacy and Foreign Relation. Then, content analysis is applied to the coding process. The research finding reveal that the status of diplomatic negotiation between the government of Malaysia and Indonesia are still ongoing, with the immediate final resolution of the disputes remains to be seen. The contribution of this study lies in providing the strong facts and the real status about territorial dispute at Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia and also the process of diplomatic negotiation between Malaysia and Indonesia in settlement the territorial dispute at Strait of Malacca.

The Straits of Malacca and Singapore is without hesitation, a vital sea lane of communication with the geographical advantage of linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Geographically, the Straits of Malacca and Singapore is shallow and fairly narrow on its eastern part and has created one of the most important traffic choke points in the world. Being a crucial sea-lane has experience the Straits with high density of vessel traffic. The increase in shipping activities has risen the challenge in safety of navigation and marine environmental protection problem which generally end up with huge financial losses for the seafarers and damages to the marine environment. Owing significant limitations in the geographical landscape, this article has primary objectives to examine how navigational safety and marine environment can be effectively protect using existing regulatory instruments. This article provides a review and analysis of existing laws and regulations to assess the status of navigational safety for marine environmental protection in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. The article also evaluates potential strategies to this problem using insights from literature. The article finds out that the littoral States to the Straits of Malacca and Singapore should adopt more forward-looking perspective in the formulation of legal measures to enhance navigational safety for marine environmental protection. The article finally suggests the potential strategies for navigational safety and marine environmental protection in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. This will help in setting priorities for future efforts in improving navigational safety for marine environmental protection with regard to international and regional initiatives.

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.

There are approximately 116 straits used for international navigation around the world. Some of them are important international maritime chokepoints, namely the Dover Strait, Hormuz Strait, Straits of Malacca and Singapore and the Russian straits across the Northeast Arctic Passage. Due to the high number of navigational traffic going through these straits, vessel-source pollution is endemic in these waters. This article examines the applicable international legal framework on protection of the marine environment of straits used for international navigation such as Part XII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and other related legal measures like International Maritime Organization conventions on protection of the marine environment. This article concludes by stating that the present framework is not sufficient in properly balancing two vital interests in the maritime world – protection of the marine environment vis-à-vis shipping.

The opening of the Northern Sea Route as an alternative route for transporting cargoes between the Far East and Europe seems highly acceptable by shipping companies due to the great saving in fuel consumption, bunker cost, operating cost, emissions and journey time. This situation will not only affect the maritime business activity in the Straits of Malacca but also, the Malaysian economy in different perspectives when the vessels sail via the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean are expected to decrease. The objective of this study is to analyse the implication in the opening of the Northern Sea Route on Maritime Sector of the Malaysian economy by using PESTEL analysis. The main scope is focusing more on the Malacca Straits shipping activity by using a number of parameters that have been obtained from Port Klang and Port Klang Authority through a set of questionnaires and interview sessions with industrial experts.