A Historic Lighthouse in the Straits of Malacca

The cost of maintaining the safety of ships passing through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore is rising implacably. Coastal states and users of this vital waterway must agree on a collaborative framework before a major accident occurs. Drawing on the history of the Horsburgh Lighthouse as an example, those who benefit from the Straits must gain a voice by committing funds to improving their safety, while cooperating with coastal states to build a framework for safety there.

Who should protect the safety of the Malacca Straits?

Discussions as to who should bear the costs concerning the safety of navigation through the Malacca-Singapore Straits have become enlivened recently. Article 43 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea states that countries in the region and countries using the straits should cooperate toward their safety and environmental conservation. Costs concerning the securement of navigational safety through the straits have been steadily increasing because of the adoption of an automatic identification system (AIS), so countries in the region have asked nations using the straits to bear the costs for the protection of safety in the waterway.
Moreover, the Malacca-Singapore Straits are overrun with pirates, and the danger of maritime terrorism is also on the rise. Current safety measures must be promptly reviewed. With regard to outside cooperation offered to countries in the region, it is no exaggeration to say that it has been only Japan, and mostly the Nippon Foundation, that has offered such support.

A ray of light from the history of the Horsburgh Lighthouse

Looking back on the history of navigation safety measures for the Malacca-Singapore Straits, a strategy for bearing costs comes into view.
The Horsburgh Lighthouse is situated on the sea to the southeast of the Singapore Islands at the east entrance of the Malacca- Singapore Straits. A construction plan for the lighthouse - which is now administered by the Singaporean Government - was proposed in 1836 and began operation in 1851. The Horsburgh Lighthouse was named after James Horsburgh (1762 - 1836), who was a leading hydrographer working with the British East India Company. In regard to the situation of the areas along the Malacca-Singapore Straits at the time, present-day Singapore and Malaysia were British colonies, whereas Indonesia was a Dutch colony. Singapore, the central city of the straits, was founded in 1819 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles who was a British East India Company administrator (in 1811, Singapore was a small fishing village with a population of several hundred). Strongly influenced by Adam Smith, Sir Raffles implemented policies that aimed to prevent the straits from being invaded by other countries, to protect British people's interests and to promote the advancement and interests of Malayan people. Sir Raffles was going to introduce a new free economy system to Malayan countries incorporating legal, administrative and customary commercial practices similar to those in Britain.
The construction of the Horsburgh Lighthouse was proposed by William Jardine, who was a British merchant and who headed the Jardine Matheson Trading Company. It is documented that the Jardine Matheson Trading Company accumulated wealth through the opium trade to China, and even supplied arms to Japan during the Meiji Restoration. Jardine Matheson Trading Company was forced to secure navigational safety in the Malacca-Singapore Straits in order to trade with China and the unknown countries of Japan and other Asian nations. Therefore, the company consulted with James Horsburgh, the hydrographer of the British East India Company, and proposed the construction of a lighthouse on a reef off Singapore that had been hindering navigational safety.
William Jardine established a fund for the construction of the Horsburgh Lighthouse in the year James Horsburgh died in remembrance of him, and started collecting money in Guangdong in China, Bombay (currently Mumbai) in India, Penang in Malaysia and other places. It was mostly European seamen and merchants working in Asian colonies who were prepared to donate financially. William Jardine himself donated 500 Spanish dollars, and the amount of contributions from Jardine Matheson Trading Company reached a total of 7,411 dollars in 1847 when the collection of contributions ended. Apart from these, major contributions were made by the British East India Company, the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce and the Bombay Chamber of Commerce, with contributions ultimately amounting to a total of 23,665 dollars.
The Spanish dollar was the unit of currency used by the East India Company. The Horsburgh Lighthouse was erected in the Malacca Strait, a difficult place to navigate, with funds provided by beneficiaries who recognized its necessity. Though the construction of the lighthouse faced difficulties, resolutions such as the location and the installation method made in meetings by the beneficiaries - who were the users of the strait - took precedence over the opinions of the governments of the colonies. Like the British lighthouse system, administrative and maintenance expenses for the lighthouse were covered by light dues that were collected from ships entering Singapore. In one year between 1856 and 1857, about 4,000 trading vessels stopped in Singapore.
Lighthouses in the U.K. are provided, maintained and managed by Trinity House. Trinity House operates lighthouses using light dues collected from ships entering ports in the U.K. (it is role of customs to collect light dues in each port). In the 17th century, there were a number of lighthouses owned privately. Shipowners and investors erected lighthouses in their own right that were necessary for safe navigation with the approval of the king, and submitted a claim for compensation for the costs to Trinity House, the administrator of the lighthouses. In the U.K., lighthouses erected at beneficiaries' expense emitted beams (in 1842, Trinity House purchased all the major lighthouses). Expenses for the operation of lighthouses in the U.K. are deliberated over by the Lighthouse Board, which consists of representatives from the government, Trinity House and the Lighthouse Advisory Committee. The Lighthouse Advisory Committee consists of shipowners, insurers and cargo owners. In other words, the Lighthouse Advisory Committee represents the beneficiaries of lighthouses and those who bear the associated costs. In the British lighthouse system, cost bearers have a voice in their operation.

Toward the creation of an organization for navigational safety through the straits

Returning to the case of the Horsburgh Lighthouse, a fund was established at beneficiaries' expense according to the principle of the ability to pay, and a lighthouse that reflected the ideas of beneficiaries was erected. What is necessary in the Malacca-Singapore Straits now is the concept of the Horsburgh Lighthouse. It is necessary for beneficiaries to provide funds for the safety of the straits, and to create an organization where they can implement and have a voice in safety measures for the waterway in cooperation with countries in the region. The Nippon Foundation has been preparing for the creation of such an organization based on the concept of cooperative management of the Malacca Straits. Before a major accident occurs, a cooperative system with countries in the region and beneficiaries must be established.
First, it is necessary to institute a forum where users and countries in the region are seated around the one table.