Singapore, Malaysia to suspend overlapping port claims off Tuas

Singapore

SINGAPORE and Malaysia agreed on Thursday to jointly suspend overlapping port claims in the waters off Tuas, saying that this was vital to end a stand-off which has seen at least one collision in the waters since the dispute began in December.

A joint statement by Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah after their meeting on Thursday morning said that they agreed to implement the suspension of overlapping port limits with immediate effect. Singapore and Malaysia will instead apply their port limits in effect prior to Dec 6 and Oct 25 respectively, undoing the overlap, and work to start talks to delimit their maritime boundary in the area.