AP, KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia might want to buy helicopters from the European company Augusta-Westland to bolster a new maritime force aimed at fighting piracy and terrorism in the Malacca Straits and other waterways, the defence minister said.
Najib Razak said he was interested in the company's AB139 search-and-rescue helicopters for the force, due to start patrols next March in the vital shipping lane between Malaysia and Indonesia, which has seen a sharp rise in piracy in recent years.
He did not say when a decision on the purchase might be made.
Najib's comments Monday were reported by the national news agency, Bernama, from Milan, Italy, where he watched a demonstration of Augusta-Westland's A-109 helicopters.
The Malaysian army is buying 11 of the A-109s for 480 million ringgit (US$126 million) as part of a military upgrade.
Malaysia has also ordered six Super Lynx 300 helicopters for its navy from Augusta-Westland, a joint venture of Italian and British companies.
The government announced recently that it would combine part of its navy, maritime police and other waterborne authorities into a single enforcement agency that would safeguard the Straits of Malacca as well as the country's other territorial waters.
The government has allocated more than 320 million ringgit (US$84.2 million) to launch the agency which will also be charged with combatting terrorism threats, trans-border human trafficking and pollution.
The straits – a narrow, 800-kilometre (500 mile) waterway bordered by Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia – carries a third of the world's commercial shipping by volume and half of the world's oil supply. But it is rife with pirates and authorities warn the waterway is vulnerable to possible terror attacks.
