Map of the Strait of malacca, from a U.S. Department of Defense report. Wikipedia
The Submarine Race In The Malaccan Strait -- Zachary Keck, The Diplomat
Persian Gulf near Iran and Oman, the Strait of Malacca is the world’s most important shipping chokepoint.
Linking the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean, the Malacca Strait is by far the shortest maritime route connecting Persian Gulf energy producers to their largest consumers in countries like China, Japan, and South Korea.
50,000 merchant ships carrying 40 percent of all world trade pass through the 900-km long (550 miles) strait each year. It’s particularly strategic for regional energy supplies. According to the U.S. government’s Energy Information Agency (EIA), in 1993 about 7 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil and petroleum products—at the time about 20 percent of global seaborne traded oil— transited the Strait of Malacca. By 2011, this number had risen to 15 million bbl/d or 33 percent of all seaborne traded oil.
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My Comment: I am surprised that these countries are focusing on submarines to fill their defense needs .... from my vantage point anti-ship missiles will be cheaper and far more effective in controlling the strait.
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