Featured Thailand studies Malacca bypass to link Indian and Pacific oceans

[DavidsSling]

Ships sit offshore in the Singapore Strait in 2018. | BLOOMBERG

Aug 30, 2020


Thailand is looking to construct a land passageway that would connect the Indian and Pacific Oceans, bypassing one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

The Strait of Malacca, a narrow sea lane between Malaysia and Singapore, is currently the shortest sea route linking the Asia-Pacific region with India and the Middle East. About a quarter of the world’s traded goods pass through it each year.

“The Strait has become quite congested,” Transport Minister Saksiam Chidchob said in an interview last week. “Using an alternative route through Thailand would cut shipping time by more than two days, which is very valuable for businesses.”

Thailand plans to build two deep seaports on either side of the country’s southern coasts, and link them via highway and rail, according to Saksiam. The 100-kilometer “land bridge” would replace an existing proposal to dredge a canal through the isthmus. That would cause too much destruction to the environment, he said.

The idea for a canal that would traverse the nation’s narrowest point and trim the travel distance by 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) has been put forward and dismissed several times over the past few decades.

The government has approved a 75 million baht ($2.4 million) budget for a study to examine the construction of two seaports, and another 90 million baht to examine highways and rails linking them, according to Saksiam.

Thailand studies Malacca bypass to link Indian and Pacific oceans

Thailand is looking to construct a land passageway that would connect the Indian and Pacific Oceans, bypassing one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

www.japantimes.co.jp

 

[vi-va]

old story again and again for 100 years.

 

[Indos]

Malacca is strait between Indonesia and Malaysia.

There is no sea lane between Malaysia and Singapore, unless for small ships

 

[KhanBaba2]

It does not look feasible. Would increase the time instead of cutting it down. Unloading the ship at one point, moving it by land and then loading it on another ship would be very time consuming.

 

[Mista]

The idea for a canal that would traverse the nation’s narrowest point and trim the travel distance by 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) has been put forward and dismissed several times over the past few decades.

I've written on PDF before on why the Kra Canal doesn't even make economic sense.

Basically, queuing up and passing through the canal takes time (4-7days) and money ($400K+ per vessal) as well. The Suez/Panama Canal makes sense because you're bypassing an entire continent, while a hypothetical Kra Canal bypasses only the Malay peninsula.

And right now with low oil prices, many ships would actually rather sail around the Cape of Good Hope rather than through the Suez Canal.

Links for full posts:

The Asian century is set to begin

U can keep believing that US dare not arrest ur cargo ships. Just like Hwei boss believed that US dare not arrest her, and we all know what happened to her :cool: Dont count on US, do it yourself!

defence.pk

The 'progress' is a ploy by scammers lol.

There have been talks of the project for hundreds of years but it's not happening.

The project is much more complex than the Suez and Panama Canal due to the mountainous terrain in Thailand, and thus there will virtually no cost or time savings compared to sailing down the Malacca Straits.



https://theaseanpost.com/article/thai-ambassador-kra-canal-no-go


https://www.reuters.com/article/panamacanal-backlog-idUSL1N13E31J20151119

The Suez and Panama Canal skips a continent (1 month), but the Kra skips only the Malaysian Peninsula (3 days). Considering the time to queue and pass through a hypothetical Kra with more water locks, it actually takes longer time.

And then there's ship size which doubles roughly every decade, which means the widening of the canal and higher costs. Makes no sense.

Indonesia wants firms relocating from China. Why are so few coming?

Is Jakarta the business hub of Indonesia? Correct bro Business District

defence.pk

Not really, if you have studied and understand shipping. Cost is much more important for non-perishable goods.

For example, many cargoes ship around the Cape of Good Hope rather than through the Suez Canal when oil prices are low even though the Suez Canal reduces shipping time by 15 days. Because fees at the Suez Canal are too expensive and it's cheaper to sail around Africa to save cost.

It doesn't really matter to a retailer when their goods are delivered at a later date. The goods are non-perishable and you just have to order shipments at an earlier date.


https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-...un-Suez-Canal-In-Search-of-Cheaper-Route.html


https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...hrinks-as-pandemic-pummels-retailers-12807502


https://thearabweekly.com/suez-canal-suffers-double-blow-pandemic-collapse-oil-prices

Moreover land-based transports of goods are very limited in market accesibility.

You're from China, and you should know very well why the coastal provinces are richer than inland provinces.

Even for the US, most of the prosperous cities are along or near the coast.

 

[Mista]

Malacca is strait between Indonesia and Malaysia.

There is no sea lane between Malaysia and Singapore, unless for small ships

View attachment 665986

Yeah lol.