The Malacca Strait - Rush Hour!

Since leaving Pangkor, we have been working our way south. We stopped in Port Dickson for a few days to check out and enjoy the nice swimming pool at the marina, and now we are heading south around Singapore.

Right now it is 8 AM and it’s my turn to be on watch. When I came up, the chart was full of activity.  Ships were surrounding us and on the radar their telltale long red arrows showed their courses and speeds. The Malacca Strait is like a super highway with a lane down the middle that’s a ‘no go’ zone.  On the right, boats are heading south, and on the left they’re heading north. Throughout the night we could hear chatter on the radio between the captains of the vessels - huge cargo ships and some military ships making sure that they were staying out of each other‘s way and that each of the of the captains understood the intentions of the other.  Occasionally the radio would come alive with a little bit of frustrated chatter as the ships were trying to give each other enough space, but the definition of ‘enough space’ seemed different for each captain.

So far it’s been an easy transit overall.  The rules of the road are very clear-cut and we just try to maintain our course as consistently as possible. When we see a ship course coming close to ours or intersecting our little boat icon on the chart plotter, we just simply give them a call and make sure that they can see our position on their radar.  We are definitely the small man on the totem pole in these waters and it can be a little bit intimidating to call these huge ships that are passing us.  In general, though, we found that all of the captains are very professional, even using manners on the VHF transmissions.

“Vessel Don Giovanni, Vessel Don Giovanni, this is Field Trip, Field Trip.”

“Vessel calling Don Giovanni come again.“

“ This is Field Trip can we change to channel 17?”

“Changing to channel 17.“

“Vessel calling Giovanni go ahead.“

“Yes good evening, this is Sailing Vessel Field Trip, I just want to ensure that you are receiving our AIS signal. We are directly in front of you.“

“Please standby.“

“Standing by.”

“Yes we see you on our AIS we will alter our course to starboard.  Thank you and have a good evening.”

“Thank you! This is Field Trip returning to 16.”

And just like that, collision avoided.

As I sit in the dawn sun, I think back to when this was a major route during the days of the spice trade and the Dutch East Indies Company. All of these container ships would be  huge schooners, filled with crew eating meager rations and trying to avoid catching the various illnesses that pervaded the tight quarters.  How did they navigate? Were the shipping lanes already established? Were there rules of the road back then?

I imagine the pirates sitting in the dark waiting to pounce on the ships most heavily laden with spices or gold.  My experience and imagination are enhanced by my recent reading of Spice by Jack Turner, all about the quest for spices: the discoveries that resulted, the medicinal and culinary uses, and the scandals surrounding these rare, fragrant wonders found only in Indonesia back then.  I could almost smell the cinnamon through the smog ... almost.

The day is filled with alternate daydreaming and AIS monitoring, but the night brings more tense moments.  As we exit the Straits and head north toward the Anambas Islands, the shipping traffic doesn’t slow down, but the fishing boats now have permission to pull nets and fish in the wider lanes.  Suddenly, there are even more lights on the horizon and the course of the fishing vessels changes constantly, making it unclear which way they are going and in which direction the nets are set.  It’s madness.