British-based insurance market Lloyd's has removed the Malacca Straits from its blacklist of war-risk areas. The decision will ease costs for companies that send 60,000 ships through the waterway each year.The move by the famous insurer was welcomed by Malaysia. Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar attributed the development to the joint patrols begun in July 2004 by the three countries straddling the waters - Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia.
The countries began the patrols after the United States warned that terrorists could link up with pirates in the narrow waterway to blow up an oil tanker or use it as a floating bomb.
