By Stefanno Sulaiman
JAKARTA, April 24 (Reuters) – Indonesia has no plan to impose tolls on ships passing through the Malacca Strait, its finance minister said on Friday, after his comments about monetising the strategic sea route made waves earlier this week.
Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa reiterated a clarification made by the country’s foreign minister on Thursday that Southeast Asia’s largest economy would not impose tariffs in the Malacca Strait.
Purbaya told a press conference Indonesia would abide by the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Seas, or UNCLOS, which outlines rules that govern waterways used for international navigation.
On Wednesday, Purbaya caused a stir by openly musing about ways countries could impose tolls on ships as a way to monetise the strait, before noting that such an arrangement was not possible.
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East has forced policymakers in Asia to face questions over the security of other maritime chokepoints.
The 900-km (550-mile) long Malacca Strait, described by the U.S. Energy Administration as the world’s largest “oil transit chokepoint”, is bound by Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore and provides the shortest sea route from East Asia to the Middle East and Europe.
More than 102,500 ships, mostly commercial vessels, transited through the Malacca Strait in 2025, up from around 94,300 in 2024, data from Malaysia’s Marine Department showed.
(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman; Editing by David Stanway, Martin Petty)
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