108. Shipping Lanes

I have sailed through the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Panama Canal. All busy shipping routes. But nothing compares to this place. The Malacca Strait. A 500 nautical mile stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra, connecting South China Sea with the Indian Ocean. Or more importantly, China with India, Middle East and Europe (via the Suez Canal). One hundred thousand cargo ships pass through the strait every year, carrying a third of all global maritime shipments. All traffic is separated by a virtual highway (Traffic Separation Scheme or TSS) and the movement of any vessel is carefully monitored by marine traffic controllers. You are required to have an AIS transponder that allows you to be tracked and to regularly report your intentions via radio. Rules and regulations that everyone follow and that effectively minimise incidents.

Rules and regulations that apply to everyone but fishermen. For some reason fishermen get away with not even living up to some of the most basic maritime practices. Like turning on their AIS or navigation lights. I know many of them have the means to do this as I’ve encountered several fishing boats deciding to let you know that they are there when you are just about to run into them. There are literally thousands of fishing vessels out every night, laying their unmarked nets wherever they feel like. Often in the shipping lanes, right in front of you and so close that you almost think they are trying catch you. Others, I’m told, just want want to get close enough to offload bad luck or some sort of Malaccan fishing ‘juju’ to any passing vessel.

Getting caught in one of their nets could be very dangerous for a small vessel. Even more so if you are alone onboard. A net wrapped around the rudder or the propeller could cause a lot of damage, particularly if the owner of the net decides to start retrieving it. I don’t even want to think about having to dive in under Saoirse and try to cut her loose from a net. A net that is designed to catch things, in a busy shipping lane and under a dark hull that is pounding in the ocean swell or the wake from passing traffic. I want to avoid this at all cost so my current strategy is to try to stay in the shipping lanes, follow the big ships, have the radar zoomed to a few hundred meter range and to be on constant watch. Hoping that I have not been handed any of that Malaccan ‘juju’.

By the way, did I mention that I’ve stopped eating fish?