Unable or unwilling to court the old vassal Malay States or the orang laut pirates to patrol the seas, the new rulers forfeited their predecessors' commercial monopoly in the Melaka Straits and, with it, command of the Moluccas spice trade.
The new rulers weren't big fans of spice trade to begin with so they didn't feel too bad.
mnli hypothesis: The new rulers weren't big fans of spice trade to begin with so they didn't feel too bad. premise: Unable or unwilling to court the old vassal Malay States or the orang laut pirates to patrol the seas, the new rulers forfeited their predecessors' commercial monopoly in the Melaka Straits and, with it, command of the Moluccas spice trade.