The Malacca Strait is about 900km long, located between Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, and is the shortest sea route connecting East Asia with the Middle East and Europe.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Malacca Strait transports nearly 22% of global maritime trade. Including oil and gas shipments from the Middle East to large energy-consuming economies such as China, Japan and South Korea.
According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), Malacca is the world's largest oil transit "throat" and the only route across the Strait of Hormuz.
In the first half of 2025, about 23.2 million barrels of oil/day were transported through the Malacca Strait, accounting for 29% of the total volume of oil transported by sea globally. The second largest shipping route after Malacca is Hormuz with about 20.9 million barrels/day.
Data from the Malaysian Maritime Administration shows that more than 102,500 ships, mainly commercial ships, passed through the Malacca Strait in 2025, an increase compared to about 94,300 ships in 2024.
Most oil tankers pass through this route, but some super-large ships avoid Malacca due to draft limitations and go around to the south of Indonesia. This roundabout route is a way to avoid Malacca if the strait is closed, but it will prolong transportation time, leading to delays in delivery and pushing prices up.
At the narrowest point in the Phillips Strait section of the Singapore Strait, Malacca is only about 2.7km wide, creating a natural bottleneck and increasing the risk of collisions, stranding or oil spills. Some areas of the strait are quite shallow, about 25-27m deep, limiting the largest ships. However, even very large crude oil tankers (VLCC) more than 350m long, 60m wide and more than 20m draft can still pass through.
For many years, this area has been a hotspot for piracy and attacks on merchant ships. Last year, the number of criminal attacks increased to at least 104 cases, but decreased in the first quarter of this year, according to the ReCAAP Information Sharing Center - an organization established by regional governments to combat piracy.
This narrow and crowded route has special strategic significance for China. Data from the oil tanker tracking company Vortexa shows that about 75% of China's crude oil imports by sea from the Middle East and Africa pass through Malacca.
Malaysian officials also said that Malacca is becoming a hotspot for illegal oil transfer from ships to ships at sea to conceal the origin of goods.
Amidst tensions in Ormuz, on April 22, Indonesian Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa attracted attention when he publicly stated the possibility that countries could collect fees for ships passing through to earn money from the strait, then emphasized that this approach is not feasible.
When asked about the risk of toll collection or traffic restrictions in the Malacca Strait, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan affirmed that coastal countries have a common strategic interest in keeping this maritime route smooth and have agreed not to charge tolls.
He also said Singapore had reassured the US and China that the travel rights of all parties were guaranteed, and that it would not participate in any efforts to blockade the strait or impose tariffs.
Also on April 22, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan noted that no country can unilaterally make decisions related to the Malacca Strait. Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand share the same view, and coordinate joint patrols to ensure the sea route is always open.
