In a battle against piracy, the three SE Asian nations of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have decided to create a protected shipping lane in the sea area off the southern Philippines between the Sulu and Celebes Seas.
This transit corridor for commercial vessels is in a maritime zone which has been hit by a host of hijackings by Islamist militants in the recent past.
The three countries also agreed to step up air and sea patrols and escorts for commercial ships in the common maritime areas, but without any co-ordinated naval patrols planned as yet.
Estimates are that about R600-billion worth of cargo passes through the Sulu and Celebes seas each year.
