The Singapore Strait is a ,

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

between the

Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pa ...

in the west and the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

in the east.

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

is on the north of the

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...

, and the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Riau Islands The Riau Islands () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia consisting of a group of islands located in the western part of the country. It was established in 2002 after being separated from the neighboring Riau Province. The capit ...

are on the south. The two countries share a maritime border along the strait. It includes

Keppel Harbour Keppel Harbour (; ), also called the Keppel Channel and formerly New Harbour, is a stretch of water in Singapore between the mainland and the southern islands of Pulau Brani and Sentosa (formerly Pulau Blakang Mati). Its naturally sheltered and de ...

and many small islands. The strait provides the deepwater passage to the

Port of Singapore The Port of Singapore is the collection of facilities and container terminal, terminals that conduct maritime trade and handle Singapore's harbours and shipping. It has been ranked as the top maritime capital of the world, since 2015. Currently ...

, which makes it very busy. Approximately 2,000 merchant ships traverse the waters on a daily basis in 2017. The depth of the Singapore Strait limits the maximum

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

of vessels going through the Straits of Malacca, and the

Malaccamax Malaccamax is a naval architecture term for the largest tonnage of ship capable of fitting through the Strait of Malacca. Bulk carriers and supertankers have been built to this tonnage, and the term is chosen for very large crude carriers (VLCC ...

ship class.

Historical records

Aerial panorama of the Singapore Strait and the Pasir Panjang Port Terminal

The 9th century AD

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

author

Ya'qubi ʾAbū al-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer. Life Ya'qubi was born in Baghdad to a fam ...

referred a ''Bahr Salahit'' or Sea of Salahit (from the Malay ''selat'' meaning strait), one of the

Seven Seas "The Seven Seas" is a figurative term for all the seas of the known world. The phrase is used in reference to sailors and pirates in the arts and popular culture and can be associated with the Mediterranean Sea, the Arabian Seven Seas east of Af ...

to be traversed to reach China. Some have interpreted Sea of Salahit as referring to Singapore, although others generally considered it the

Malacca Strait The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pa ...

, a point of contact between the Arabs and the Zābaj (likely Sumatra). Among early Europeans travellers to South East Asia, the

Strait of Singapore The Singapore Strait is a , strait between the Strait of Malacca in the west and the South China Sea in the east. Singapore is on the north of the channel, and the Indonesian Riau Islands are on the south. The two countries share a mariti ...

may refer to the whole or the southern portion of the

as well as other stretches of water. Historians also used the term in plural, "Singapore Straits", to refer to three or four different straits found in recorded in old texts and maps – the Old Strait of Singapore between

Sentosa Sentosa Island ( ), known mononymously as Sentosa, is an island located off the southern coast of Singapore's main island. The island is separated from the main island of Singapore by a channel of water, the Keppel Harbour, and is adjacent to ...

and

Telok Blangah Telok Blangah ( , , ) is a subzone region and housing estate located in the area behind Keppel Harbour in Bukit Merah, Singapore. Telok Blangah is represented by three contiguous subzones of Bukit Merah in Urban Redevelopment Authority, URA maste ...

, the New Strait of Singapore southwest of Sentosa, the "Governor's Strait" or "Strait of John de Silva" which corresponds to Phillip Channel, and the Tebrau Strait. Today the Singapore Strait refers to the main channel of waterway south of Singapore where the international border between Singapore and Indonesia is located.

Extent

The

International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...

defines the limits of the Singapore Strait as follows:

''On the West.'' The Eastern limit of Malacca Strait Tanjong Piai (Bulus), the Southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula">Tanjung_Piai.html" ;"title=" line joining Tanjung Piai">Tanjong Piai (Bulus), the Southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula () and The Brothers () and thence to Klein Karimoen ()]. ''On the East.'' A line joining Tanjong Datok, the Southeast point of Johore () through Pedra Branca, South China Sea, Horsburgh Reef to Pulo Koka, the Northeastern extreme of Bintan Island (). ''On the North.'' The Southern shore of
Singapore Island Singapore Island, also known as mainland Singapore and Pulau Ujong, is the main constituent island of the sovereign island country and city-state of the Republic of Singapore. It is located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, between th ...
, Johore Shoal and the Southeastern coast of the
Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...
. ''On the South.'' A line joining Klein Karimoen to Pulo Pemping Besar () thence along the Northern coasts of
Batam Batam, officially the City of Batam (, not to be confused with ''Batam Kota'', a kecamatan, district within this city), is the largest List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. The city administra ...
and Bintan Islands to Pulo Koka.

Pilot guides and charts

Pilot guides and charts of the Malacca and Singapore straits have been published for a considerable time due to the nature of the straits

Second World War

The strait was mined by the British during the Second World War.

Incidents and accidents

In 2009, the ''Maersk Kendal'' was grounded on the Monggok Sebarok reef. In 2024, ReCAAP reported targeted stealing of engine spares by pirates as unique to the Singapore and

s, indicating the possibility of a

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

Historical records

Extent

Pilot guides and charts

Second World War

Incidents and accidents

See also

References

Further reading