Choking on Haze: A Crisis in the Strait of Malacca
The
Strait of Malacca, one of the busiest maritime traffic routes, is facing a
myriad of challenges due to haze caused by the natural and man-made fires in
Indonesia’s dry Sumatran Forest. The impact of this thick haze is two-fold in
the region surrounding the Strait; first is the marine traffic incidents on the
shipment route and the second is the negative impacts on the marine ecology,
both of which have been insufficiently studied.
The Strait of Malacca is 800 km long
and 65-250 km wide shipping route between Peninsular Malaysia (West Malaysia)
and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It links three of the world's most
populous nations: India, Indonesia and China. Being the
shortest shipping channel between the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the
South China Sea (Pacific Ocean), it is one of the world’s busiest
maritime traffic routes. The Strait is used by more than 400 shipping
lines, linking over 700 ports worldwide, for transshipment (Dryad
Global). Over 60,000 ships pass through the straits annually making
this route prone to multiple challenges including heavy traffic, accidents, and
piracy (Rasdi et al. 2021). Haze is another addition to the list of problems of
Malaccan Strait and it makes the route more prone to navigational challenges
such as collisions between vessels and oil spillage.
What is Haze?
Haze is generally an atmospheric phenomenon where soot particles, aerosols, dust, water vapour molecules, carbon dioxide and other toxic gases combine with air in the atmosphere and cause obstruction in air transparency and visibility. Haze pollution became an object of study recently when it started affecting the tourism industry (Zhang et al. 2015). It has been noticed that in the last decade, multiple reports have cited thick haze cover over the Malaccan Strait, causing visibility issues for the ships, oil tankers and passenger ferries. The Singapore Shipping Association argued that more than 140 ships navigated in reduced visibility due to the haze (Hance, 2014). They described it as navigating in dangerous conditions.
Factors Contributing to the Haze
The Southeast Asian region experiences a dry season every year leading to forest fires, especially in Indonesia’s dry Sumatran Forest (BBC, 2019). The smoke from the fires causes a thick haze, covering the sky and leaving a lingering acrid smell in the region. Indonesian farmers practice slash-and-burn agriculture to clear the land for further plantation of paper and palm oil (Hance, 2014). However, the forest fire and the haze cannot only be blamed on small farmers only. The big corporations in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia need the peat land for palm oil and acacia tree cultivation to produce pulp and paper (Ibid). These corporations burn the natural peat lands that are highly inflammable and provide an ‘inexhaustible supply of fuel’(Normile, 2019).
This occurrence is so regular that
it has caused diplomatic troubles for Indonesia along with financial losses of
billions of US dollars. In 2015, the haze pollution costed Indonesian economy
about USD16 billion as the country had to
declare a state of emergency and shut down schools and businesses (BBC, 2019).
Since 2019, the haze levels have further deteriorated as per the Haze Outlook
Report (Singapore Institute of International Affairs, 2022). Even NASA
satellites have recorded the haze caused by both natural forest fires and
man-made forest fires in various islands of Indonesia (Hance, 2014). The impact
of this thick haze is two-fold: first is the marine traffic incidents and the
second is marine ecology, both of which have been insufficiently studied.
Impacts of Haze on Marine Traffic
In 2013, the shipping companies
operating in the Malaccan Strait region warned that the thick haze from
Indonesian forest fires could cause accidents in the busy shipping routes
leading to increased oil spills into the ocean (Physics.Org, 2013). In fact, if
the haze causes collisions between the Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), then
the effect on both traffic and marine life could be devastating (Ibid).
Countries have been issuing haze alerts to the ships as well. Malaysia came
into international headlines when in 2006, it issued a ‘hazard warning’ to the
ships about thick haze in the Malaccan Strait (Malaysia Kini News, 2006). In
June 2013, Malaysia’s Marine Department issued another hazard alert for the
ships cruising through the Strait of Malacca for the thick haze originating
from forest fires (Splash247.Com, 2013). A Wall Street Journal in 2013 reported
that despite the warnings issued by authorities, the marine traffic in the
Strait of Malacca continued as usual while the same haze interrupted traffic on
land as well (Gangopadhyay, 2013).
To provide an idea of how much
affect the haze has on the visibility, the Mua Marine Police stated that the
visibility drops to less than 10-5 metres at night (The Star, 2004). This is
why the hazard alerts often ask the vessels to switch on navigational lights at
night. Without the haze, the visibility is 10 km, such is the impact of the haze
(Rasdi et al, 2021). According to the International Maritime Organisation, there
have been more than a thousand major collisions in the Strait of Malacca, and
the haze can be stated as one of the responsible factors for most of the
accidents (Centre for Strategic and International Studies, 2022). There is a
dearth of data on exactly how many collisions have been caused directly by
haze, or how the captains of the ships navigate through the haze late at night
or during high-traffic hours.
It goes
without doubt that the Strait is a high-risk maritime route since 80 per cent
of the ship’s captains have reported in the past their worry regarding
accidents whenever they have to cross this narrow waterway (Rasdi et al, 2021).
Therefore, a serious risk analysis is required when it comes to the thick haze
covering the navigational path of the Malaccan Strait every year.
Impact of Haze on Marine Ecology
Thick haze
blocks sunlight from reaching the marine ecosystems in the Indian Ocean, thus,
interrupting photosynthesis in the coral reefs and the sea grass (Hance, 2014).
It may also result in eutrophication, a phenomenon where excessive nutrients
lead to algal blooms and low-oxygen levels in the water killing essential fish
habitats and seagrass. There is not enough research on the ecological impact of
haze on marine ecology but since the Strait of Malacca region is home to more
than 600 species of corals and 2000 reef fish (Hance, 2014), the region needs
to invest in greater research.
Way
Forward
As the problem of thick haze has affected day-to-day
lifestyle in Indonesia, the local governments are working to put policies in
place to control forest fires, especially those that are man-made (Earth5r.Org, 2022). This year the risks are supposed
to be even higher as the Government of Indonesia is
expecting 2023 to be drier than the last three years (The Straits Times, 2023).
This might translate into bigger forest fires, contributing to thicker,
dangerous haze. A more precautious approach is required for the ships crossing
the Strait of Malacca during the dry seasons. It would also certainly be an apt
period to conduct research on how the haze is affecting the maritime traffic in
the area.
References
BBC
(2019). Indonesia haze: Why do forests keep burning? https://www.bbc.com/news/
Centre for Strategic and International
Studies (2022). Navigation Hazards as an Evolving Threat to
Southeast Asia’s Maritime Security. https://www.csis.org/analysis/
Dryad Global (2023). Malacca
Straits: Significant regional challenges to securing the maritime domain. https://dg.dryadglobal.com/
Earth5r.Org (2022). As Dry Season
Starts in Indonesia, Risk Of Fires — And Haze — Looms. https://earth5r.org/as-dry-
Gangopadhyay, A. (2013). Haze Doesn't
Deter Malacca Strait Shipping Traffic. https://www.wsj.com/articles/
Hance, J. (2014). Does haze from
burning forests affect marine life? https://news.mongabay.com/
Malaysia Kini News (2006). Haze alert
issued on Malacca Strait.: https://www.malaysiakini.com/
Merriam-Webster (2023). Haze Definition
& Meaning. https://www.merriam-webster.
Normile, D. (2019). Indonesia's fires
are bad, but new measures prevented them from becoming worse. https://www.science.org/
Physics.Org (2013). Shipping firms warn
of haze danger in Malacca Strait. https://phys.org/news/2013-06-
Rasdi, N., Suhrab, M., Islam, M., Ahmed, T.,
& Cindy, F. (2021). Safety of Navigation at the Straits of Malacca. 1 (9).
Rasdi, N., Suhrab, M., Islam, R., Ahmed, T.,
& Fung, C. (2021). Safety of Navigation at the Straits of Malacca. World
Wide Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development, 7 (10), 1-9, https://wwjmrd.com/upload/
Singapore Institute of International Affairs
(2022). Haze outlook 2022. https://www.siiaonline.org/
Splash247.Com. (2013). Haze brings
Malacca Strait navigational alert. https://splash247.com/haze-
The Star (2004). Marine cops issue haze
alert for ships plying Straits of Malacca. https://www.thestar.com.my/
The Straits Times (2023). Higher forest
fire risk as Indonesia heads into potentially dry 2023. https://www.straitstimes.com/
Zhang, A., Zhong, L., Xu, Y., Wang, H., &
Dang, L. (2015). Tourists’ Perception of Haze Pollution and the Potential
Impacts on Travel: Reshaping the Features of Tourism Seasonality in Beijing,
China. Sustainability, 7 (3), 2397-2414, https://doi.org/10.3390/
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