Official Inauguration of Malaysian Coastguard

Created by doina. Last modified on 2006-03-27 15:50:06
Contributors:
Topic: Piracy
Countries: Malaysia

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) was officially inaugurated on 21 March 2006 and will be the main government agency maintaining law and order and coordinating SAR operations in the Malaysian Maritime Zone and on the high seas.

The new agency will be a welcome addition to boost security in the Strait of Malacca and should provide a more effective force in carrying out operations previously conducted by a number of different agencies.

The Strait is a major sea link and about 50,000 ships pass through it each year. Despite a rise in piracy attacks in some parts of the world, notably off the coast of Somalia, the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre based in Kuala Lumpur reported in its Annual Report that attacks in the Malacca Straits fell from 38 in 2004 to 12 attacks in 2005.

MMEA website: http://www.mmea.gov.my/hocgmy/mmea.htm