The Malacca Strait is safer now states bordering the piracy-prone waterway have total control over its protection, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said today.

Najib said recent reports from watchdog International Maritime Bureau proved that steps taken by Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore to beef up security had reduced piracy in the busy strait.

"The formation of the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency and increases in joint patrols among the forces of the littoral (coastal) states have all proven most effective in securing the Straits," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Najib, who is also defence minister, said the increased security measures had led insurers to drop the Malacca Strait's war-risk rating.

The London-based Joint War Committee, which includes underwriters from the Lloyd's and company markets, decided in June 2005 to add the Strait to a list of 20 areas worldwide - alongside Iraq and Lebanon - that it deemed security threats to shipping.

The war-risk tag was removed in August last year.

Japan has stepped up aid to fight piracy in Southeast Asia and has said it is prepared to help guard the Malacca Strait, which runs between Malaysia and Indonesia, as nearly all of the oil powering its economy travels through the waterway.

Pirate attacks in the strait, which was once one of the world's top piracy black spots, have fallen in recent years after Indonesia stepped up patrols.

The Malacca Strait is one of the world's most important stretches of water. Some 60,000 ships pass through annually, carrying about a third of the world's freight.

The 960-kilometre waterway is notoriously vulnerable to pirate attacks, and governments also fear it could be a tempting target for terrorists.