The first expedition in 60 years to study the Straits of Malacca has set sail to assess the waterway's resources and environment.

 
Thirty-two Malaysian scientists sailed from Northport today to pick up where British research left off in the 1950s.

 
Marine biologists, geologists and phytoplankton specialists are among those on the expedition. The straits is the busiest shipping lane in the world.

 
The expedition was launched by Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Shafie Salleh.

 
"The Straits of Malacca was last explored by the British before Merdeka, so this is another first for us," said University of Malaya's Maritime Research Centre head and team leader Prof Phang Siew Moi.

 
Phang will be assisted on the week-long journey by deputy Assoc Prof Azhar Hussin to update the centre's database on resources in the straits and document the health of its ecosystems.

 
The expedition is a joint undertaking of the centre and Tan Sri Halim Mohammad's Halim Mazmin group. Halim's company, Challenger Marine Sdn Bhd, provided the centre's research vessel, MV Reef Challenger, making this the first academic-corporate collaboration in local scientific research.

 
Halim said he hoped the team would emulate famed marine explorer, the late Jacques Cousteau.

 
"We know many were moved to conservation by the images that Cousteau brought us.
"There is a wealth of wonders in our seas and we are duty-bound to preserve them for our children."