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JAKARTA, April 20 (Reuters) – A United States warship passed through the Strait of Malacca over the weekend, the Indonesian Navy \u200csaid on Monday, adding that the transit through the \u200cmajor sea route was in accordance with international law.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The warship passed through the \u200bstrait, which borders Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, on Saturday, April 18, Indonesian Navy spokesperson First Admiral Tunggul told Reuters.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Navy Commander Matthew Comer, a spokesperson at the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command, identified the warship as the \u200cJapan-based USS Miguel Keith, \u2060which has been at sea “conducting routine operations in U.S. 7th Fleet.”<\/p>\n
\u2022 Comer did not provide details about the \u2060destination of the warship, citing U.S. Navy policy not to discuss future operations or movements for security reasons, but said it had undergone \u200bmaintenance in \u200bSouth Korea in early April.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The \u200bU.S. Navy describes the USS \u200cMiguel Keith as a 240-meter-long vessel designed to be a customisable floating command base that can launch helicopters and small boats, provide living quarters for troops, and command-and-control facilities.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The 900-km long Malacca Strait links Asia with the Middle East and Europe, carrying around 25% \u200cof the world’s traded goods.<\/p>\n
\u2022 “Any vessel including \u200bwarships transiting in the waters has \u200brights of transit passage which \u200bcan be exercised in a strait used for \u200cinternational navigation or international shipment,” Indonesia’s \u200bNavy spokesman said.<\/p>\n
\u2022 \u200bThe Indonesian Navy said that all vessels exercising their rights of transit are obliged to respect Indonesia as a coastal state \u200band must not violate International \u200cRegulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, Tunggul said.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Ananda \u200bTeresia in Jakarta and Tim Kelly in Tokyo; editing \u200bby Gibran Peshimam and David Stanway)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n