Each year, 94,000 ships pass through the Malacca Straits, making them one of the world’s busiest waterways. In order to protect the safety of the straits, in April of 2008 an Aids to Navigation Fund was established, and The Nippon Foundation agreed to donate USD 2.5 million for its first year of operation. The signing ceremony to start this funding was held on July 7 at the Mandarin-Oriental hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Chairman Sasakawa was in attendance, along with people in the transport and maritime fields from the three littoral countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore).

The purpose of the Aids to Navigation Fund is to maintain and replace the buoys and other navigational aids lining the straits, a burden that has until now been borne by the littoral countries. It is expected that the fund will be voluntarily supported by the users of the straits—namely the global shipping industry. The Nippon Foundation will over the next 4 years contribute one third of the costs incurred by the fund.

The Nippon Foundation has been very active in bringing about this new initiative, and at the signing ceremony, Chairman Sasakawa reiterated the foundation’s commitment. Further, he helped to define the philosophy and the way in which the fund will be run, saying “The Nippon Foundation encourages users of the Straits to play their role from the viewpoint of Corporate Social Responsibility.” He stressed the foundation’s opinion that all users of the straits should voluntarily provide the funds needed to maintain safety there.

In recent years, the world’s reliance on maritime transport has burgeoned, driving up the number of large ships that ply the straits, and at the same time increasing the risk of a large scale shipping disaster there. At the same time, the cost of maintaining and replacing such necessary equipment as buoys and buoy-tender vessels has continued to rise, becoming a burden on the littoral nations. However, thanks to the cooperation of such groups as Middle East Navigation Aids Service, the Japanese Ship-owners’ Association, and the Round Table of International Shipping Associations, there is a promising trend for the corporate world to begin taking responsibility for its use of the seas.