Malaysia's maritime expanse is double our land mass and spans more than half a million square kilometres. Our seas contribute greatly to national wealth, especially as so much of global maritime trade passes through them.
It is odd then that only 63 per cent of our maritime domain has been surveyed to modern high-density hydrographic standards, as National Hydrographic Centre (NHC) director-general Rear Admiral Dr Najhan Md Said revealed in the New Sunday Times yesterday.
Malaysia has only a single hydrographic survey ship to map the remaining 37 per cent of our sea beds.
Worse, the NHC lacks statutory power, as it relies merely on a 54-year-old administrative memo and survives on cabinet whim.
Hydrographic surveys require coordination with various government bodies and the NHC is prone to bureaucratic delays.
The obvious solution is a dedicated Act of Parliament — as recommended in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Batu Puteh — to establish the NHC as a permanent statutory authority directly under the Defence Ministry that can streamline decision-making and secure its long-term funding needs.
Commercial shipping passing through Malaysian waters which is so crucial to global trade and our economic well-being relies on detailed seabed mapping to ensure navigational safety.
Shifting seabed sand dunes in the narrow and shallow Strait of Malacca and imprecise depth charts can easily lead to ship groundings that will cause catastrophic bottlenecks to global supply chains.
Moreover, the NHC and its vital work protect our national sovereignty and cultural identity since under international ocean protocols, nations cannot defend sea boundaries or name underwater features with mere statements; they need to produce verified survey data.
The NHC has officially registered 17 major Malaysian undersea features such as the Santubong Seamount and the Rafflesia Hill.
Without our own data, foreign entities could map and name features in our maritime zones and introduce foreign names.
The NHC must be better equipped with more naval survey ships. Since the KD Mutiara retired in 2018, the KD Perantau remains the navy's sole survey ship. It has been estimated that relying on one ship alone to chart the remaining 37 per cent of national waters would take 55 years.
While leasing commercial ships utilising NHC funding has brought coverage up from 50 per cent to 63 per cent, such temporary commercial contracts are poor substitutes for a dedicated naval fleet to safeguard long-term national security.
Malaysia cannot fully defend nor profit from waters it has not mapped. Parliament must pass a National Hydrography Act to afford the NHC full legal power, paired with budget commitments for additional naval survey vessels, the better to secure the nation's maritime frontier.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd