JAKARTA, April 24 (Reuters): Indonesia has no plan to impose tolls ​on ships passing through the Malacca Strait, its minister said on Friday, after his comments about monetising the strategic sea route made waves earlier this week.

Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa reiterated ​a clarification made by the country's foreign minister on ​Thursday that Southeast Asia's largest economy would not ⁠impose tariffs in the Malacca Strait.

Purbaya told a press ​conference Indonesia would abide by the U.N. Convention on ​the Law of the Seas, or UNCLOS, which outlines rules that govern waterways used for international navigation.

On Wednesday, Purbaya caused a stir ​by openly musing about ways countries could impose tolls ​on ships as a way to monetise the strait, before noting that such ⁠an arrangement was not possible.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East has forced policymakers in Asia to face questions over the security of ​other maritime chokepoints.

The ​900-km (550-mile) long ⁠Malacca Strait, described by the U.S. Energy Administration as the world's largest "oil transit chokepoint", ​is bound by Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and ​Singapore and ⁠provides the shortest sea route from East Asia to the Middle East and Europe.

More than 102,500 ships, mostly commercial ⁠vessels, ​transited through the Malacca Strait in ​2025, up from around 94,300 in 2024, data from Malaysia's Marine Department ​showed.