THE realisation of a co-operative framework for funding navigational safety in the Malacca and Singapore Straits immediately raises the question whether it could serve as a model for other shipping lanes.“We have succeeded, I believe for the first time, in applying Article 43 [of Unclos] in one of the 116 straits used for international navigation. This is a historic day,” Tommy Koh, Singapore’s ambassador at large for the ministry of foreign affairs, told the meeting on the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.According to participants at the meeting a South African delegate raised the possibility that the framework could be a model for funding navigational safety in similar straits around the world.Koji Sekimizu, International Maritime Organization director of maritime safety division, did not rule out the idea completely, although he said a lot of work had still to be done on the Singapore and Malacca Strait framework.“It is premature to talk about the next step,&