KUALA LUMPUR - A JAPANESE foundation said on Tuesday it would contribute US$9 million (S$13 million) towards ensuring safety on the Malacca Strait, through which thousands of Japanese vessels pass annually.

The Nippon Foundation, a Tokyo-based group which has been shouldering part of the cost of maintaining navigational aides on the narrow waterway and the Straits of Singapore, said the money would be paid out over five years.

'There is a potential for an accident to happen. If it involves crude oil tankers, there will be a major oil spill. This could disrupt international trade,' foundation chairman Yohei Sasakawa told AFP. 'We must take preventive measures before a disaster takes place,' he said at a signing ceremony to grant the money to a multinational fund.

Mr Sasakawa urged ship owners to contribute to the navigation safety fund, to combat threats faced by ships plying the vital artery for world trade.

'Our contribution accounts for one-third of the total cost to maintain the safety equipments. Ship owners must contribute to keep the strait safe. It is a dangerous strait as it is full of oil tankers,' he said.

The fund, set up last year, is managed by the three littoral states - Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, which take three-year rotating terms. Malaysia is the current chair. The United Arab Emirates, India and Greece have also contributed to the fund.

A total of $7.4 million will be spent this year on maintaining navigational aides including lighthouses, beacons, and buoys to guide ships through the congested waterway and prevent collisions.

A Japanese transport official at the ceremony said that at least 94,000 ships sail the narrow strait annually, and that 20 per cent are Japanese vessels - mostly large crude oil carriers.

The Malacca Strait, one of the busiest waterways in the world, is vital to Japan's national interests as more than 80 per cent of its oil passes through it. -- AFP