China harasses Malaysian oil and gas vessels on a ‘daily’ basis, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative says
- Moves by Chinese coastguard and maritime militia said to be focused on Luconia Shoals, where Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas company is exploring a gas field
- Washington-based AMTI says civilian vessels there have been targeted daily for the past two years, and similar tactics now being used against Indonesian drillers in Natuna Sea
The Luconia Shoals, which lie within Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone, are home to the Kasawari gas field, which is being developed by Petronas and is situated some 200km (124 miles) from the coast of Bintulu in Sarawak.
Last week, Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said he expected more Chinese vessels to enter the country’s waters “for as long as” Petronas continued to develop the field, which was discovered in November 2011 and is thought to contain 3 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of recoverable gas resources. He also said Malaysia’s current relationship with China was “very difficult to quantify but is much better now”, despite what happened in the South China Sea.
Poling said, in an email response to questions from This Week in Asia, that the Chinese boats would harass offshore supply vessels servicing the rigs.
“They manoeuvre dangerously and intentionally create risks of collision to dissuade civilians from accepting such contracts,” Poling said.