KUALA LUMPUR: Iranian Navy's 24th fleet of warships, comprised of the Sabalan destroyer and the Khark helicopter carrier, is passing through the Strait of Malacca, a narrow, 805 km stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Iran's Mehr News Agency (MNA) reported, quoting commander of the Iranian Navy, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari as saying to reporters on Monday that the Navy has entered the Strait of Malacca for the first time since the victory of Iran's Islamic Revolution. He also said that the fleet would leave the strait on Tuesday and sail northward to enter the Pacific Ocean. “The Iranian warships will dock in China and Sri Lanka to convey the Iranian nation's message of friendship to these countries,” he said. Sayyari also said that a large volume of the world's traded goods is transported across the area between the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab el-Mandeb, and the Strait of Malacca, noting that maintaining the security of shipping lanes in this area is highly important for the Iranian economy. From an economic and strategic perspective, the Strait of Malacca is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. The strait is the main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, linking major Asian economies such as India, China, Japan, and South Korea. Over 50,000 vessels pass through the strait per year, carrying about one-quarter of the world's traded goods including oil, Chinese manufactures, and Indonesian coffee. About a quarter of all oil carried by sea passes through the strait, mainly from Persian Gulf suppliers to Asian markets such as China, Japan, and South Korea. BN
