JAKARTA - Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have agreed to carry out year-round joint naval patrols in the pirate-infested Malacca Straits, Indonesian navy chief Admiral Bernard Kent Sondakh said today.

The three countries have agreed to set up a task force for the Malacca Straits, Sondakh told journalists after meeting his visiting Malaysian counterpart Admiral Mohamad Anwar at the navy headquarters here.

"We will increase our current four yearly patrols to all-year-round patrols within a task force specially set up to handle the Malacca Straits," he said.

Each country is expected to deploy five to seven corvettes besides their regular patrols in the strait, he said.

"Not too far in the future, hopefully by the end of the week, the assistants for operations of the three countries will be able to meet to prepare a general concept of operations that we will jointly implement," Sondakh said.

Terror attacks

He said cooperation with other countries, including the United States, was still possible but only through intelligence data exchange, training and the enhancement of capabilities. He did not elaborate.

The narrow, 960-kilometre waterway, through which about half the world's oil supplies and a third of global trade passes, runs along the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The United States has also expressed fears of terror attacks involving hijacked ships in the strait.

The commander of US forces in the Pacific, Admiral Thomas Fargo, suggested in April that US marines and other forces might help patrol the waterway. The US backed away from the suggestion after it raised hackles in Indonesia and Malaysia. - AFP