Malaysia Eases Cabotage Policy for Undersea Cable Repairs

Starting June 1, Malaysia's government will allow all vessels conducting undersea cable repairs to operate in its waters, reversing a 2020 restriction. These ships will be exempt from the cabotage policy, responding to local and international tech firms' appeals. However, cabotage policy for cargo shipping to Sarawak will be reinstated.

Malaysia's government will allow all vessels conducting repairs on undersea cables to carry out work in its waters from June 1, after it had said earlier this year it would reinstate the permissions it had suspended in 2020. All cable-laying ships engaged in the installation, maintenance and repair of undersea cables in Malaysian waters will be exempted from the country's cabotage policy, the transport ministry said in a statement issued late on Thursday.

Cabotage policies regulate shipping or trade activities in a country's waters or airspace. The government revoked permission for international vessels to conduct such work in 2020 but reversed its decision in March following local and international tech companies' calls for the waiver to be reinstated.

The ministry also said the cabotage policy on vessels shipping cargo from the country's peninsula to Sarawak state on Borneo island would be reinstated from June 1.