Malaysia Unveils Plan to Streamline Maritime Governance

Malaysia Tackles Maritime Governance Overlap: New National Maritime Baseline Aims for Efficiency Langkawi, Malaysia – The Malaysian government is taking decisive steps to address inefficiencies and overlaps in maritime sector governance. At the Langkawi International Maritime Conference (LIMA'25), the government announced a new National Maritime Baseline aimed at streamlining operations and enhancing maritime domain awareness. The initiative seeks to resolve challenges arising from the involvement of over 30 agencies and ministries currently operating under more than 15 acts and regulations. "The current situation often leads to conflicts of authority, inefficiencies, and wasteful use of resources," explained a news report from Berita RTM. The report further detailed the government's commitment to "establishing an integrated maritime governance system." This commitment includes streamlining maritime law enforcement, eliminating redundancies, and improving inter-agency coordination through increased digitalization and data sharing. The goal is to improve the effectiveness of coastal protection and resource management. The initiative represents a significant step toward modernizing Malaysia's maritime sector, promising more efficient and coordinated efforts in safeguarding the nation's waters and resources.