December 18, 2005: To better deal with pirates, and possible terrorist attacks, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have agreed to issue their armed forces with a common set of procedures to be used when patrolling the Malacca Strait. This is the busiest sea lane on the planet, and a vital water way for East Asian nations. The new procedures will allow the ships of any of the four nations to pursue suspects into the others territorial waters. The common procedures would make it easier for the ships and aircraft of the four nations to communicate with each other during such operations. The four nations will also share intelligence material, and coordinate patrols in the straits.
