Foreign media reported that a cargo ship named “Marco Polo 188” had a serious hull in the waters of the Malacca Strait in Indonesia. The cargo ship was loaded with 195 containers. After the accident, some of the containers fell into the wrecked sea area. The actual impact is still unclear.
The report said that the ship was tilted 60 degrees and the sea was a mess, with at least 18 containers scattered in the Strait of Malacca. If more containers slip into the strait, there could be serious repercussions on this trade route.
The Strait of Malacca is a waterway connecting the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The strait is 800 kilometers long and looks like a funnel. Its south mouth is only 65 kilometers wide and gradually widens to the north. The Strait of Malacca is the main passage connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, with a long history of navigation. two thousand years. It is an important sea passage for exchanges between countries along the coasts of Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe.
The seabed of the Malacca Strait is flat, mostly silt, and the water flow is gentle, which is easy to accumulate sediment, so there are a large number of shallows and sandbars underwater. Huge cruise ship strandings have occurred from time to time.
In 2021, the Suez Canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea will seriously affect international shipping due to container ships stuck in the canal. If the Malacca Strait is blocked due to the capsize of cargo ships, the impact on the world economy will be huge. At present, according to preliminary reports, the area of the incident sea area is relatively wide, and the impact on the route will not be great.