Proposed in June this year by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak at the annual Shangri-la Dialogue, the patrol plan was announced early last month in Kuala Lumpur after a meeting of chiefs of defense forces from the four countries.
The move is expected to supplement the coordinated maritime patrols launched last year by the three littoral states of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, to fight against pirates.
A Singapore Defense Ministry spokesman has confirmed that the city state will dispatch two aircraft in a joint air patrol over the Strait of Malacca, according to Channel NewsAsia report on Thursday night.
Singapore will maneuver two Fokker-50 planes per week at the initial stage of participation while the frequency of the patrols is to be reviewed subsequently, said the spokesman.
The report quoted an Indonesian Navy official as saying that Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia will also deploy two aircraft each in the "eyes in the sky" patrol, which is scheduled to begin on Sept. 13.
Proposed in June this year by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak at the annual Shangri-la Dialogue, the patrol plan was announced early last month in Kuala Lumpur after a meeting of chiefs of defense forces from the four countries.
The move is expected to supplement the coordinated maritime patrols launched last year by the three littoral states of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, to fight against pirates.
Some 37 pirate attacks were reported last year in the waterway, which transports half of the world's oil and a third of its commerce on more than 50,000 ships a year.
The strait is also regarded as both a possible target of terrorist attacks and a war risk.
