Maritime Security Industry Looks to the Future

Written by Security Association for the Maritime Industry Secretariat

Typecasting can be the curse of many an actor – they become so immersed and associated with one kind of character that the wider audience cannot seemingly accept them in any other role. Away from the bright lights of the film studios, it seems that entire industries can be typecast too – and private maritime security may be suffering just such a problem.

It appears the maritime security industry and armed guards have become completely synonymous. A perception is seemingly developing which sees privately contracted armed security personnel (PCASP) as the only answer being offered by this burgeoning industry.

Their use has been contentious and has led to difficult decisions within in many a parliament and many a shipowner’s Board room, but their usage has added security and a degree of confidence where once there was only fear and uncertainty.

The much quoted fact that no vessel, to date, with armed guards on board has been hijacked is a compelling selling point. While it is true that armed guards have been a popular, successful and widely used service, the fact remains that this is simply one small aspect of the capabilities which maritime security can bring to bear. Armed guards are simply a specific form of protection and deterrent against a specific threat – namely Somali pirates.

That is why SAMI is eager to look ahead to the future of maritime security. We want to break the cycle of misunderstanding and show that where security threats are set to emerge it is by embracing professional solutions at an early stage which will allow seafarers, cargoes, vessels and global trade to remain protected.

Protecting vessels and understanding the threats facing them is key to keeping trade flowing. Just as the Earth’s rotation is the engine which drives our climate, the need to move goods from different parts of the world is the driving force behind the shipping industry. The fundamental fact that so much of the world’s resources or means of manufacture are found far from the ultimate consumers means that globalisation has rested on the ability for shipping to make the movement of goods and raw materials a reality.

This poses a degree of risk for the seafarers and vessels making these potentially dangerous voyages. Since time immemorial those who go down to the sea in ships have been vulnerable to not just the vagaries of the weather and seas, but to other threats too. The vicious nature of criminals, terrorists and the fact that ships are inherently exposed as they plough their lonely furrow across the oceans cannot be underestimated or ignored.

So what of the future? In assessing how maritime security will provide the right services and solutions it is perhaps important to appreciate how trade may evolve. So what will ships be doing into the next decade and beyond?

Issues such as the quest for alternative energy supplies, and developments such as lab grown meat will likely have some impact on the movement of goods, materials and hydrocarbon products. However, where the flow of trade may incur so many ton-miles, it could be that the next generation of shipping is focused on exploitation of the seas. We will look to work under the waves, while possibly living and working above it.

In order to safeguard the vast investments needed to make the future moves out from the coast possible, it will be vital to ensure that the people and vessels used are not just properly constructed and operated, but they need to be secure too. Safety and security should not be separated. The risk management approach which has proved so popular within the corridors of shipping power has to be applied equally to all threats and opportunities.

According to the Global Ocean Commission, there is growing evidence that governance failures in international waters are having an impact on economics, food supplies, piracy, security and human rights, as well as on nature. It would therefore seem that security will play a vital role in safeguarding the rights of parties looking to legally and sustainably manage activities out on the high seas.

While it would perhaps seem that this is the role of navies, it has been increasingly seen that where private, commercial entities are involved, then governments are hesitant to commit to the expensive task of providing naval support. Given the delicate balance of rebuilding global finance and government coffers it perhaps seems unlikely that the public purse will be widely opened for the pursuit of private gain. While the naval assets which have gathered off Somalia and in the Indian Ocean may suggest otherwise, for many politicians it seems that maritime activities are not yet vote winners and as far as the electorate is concerned shipping is literally out of sight and mind.

The Global Ocean Commission and other similar bodies are seemingly determined to change that. They see the high seas as humanity’s future; and they believe that across all sectors of society there will have to be accountability for those who intend of using it. That will ultimately mean the maritime developers of the future will have to ensure they can reassure stakeholders that they are able to operate without falling into the hands of criminals – be they pirates or terrorists.

The ‘Paris Call for the High Seas’ states there are serious issues relating to the control of the high seas which constitute almost half of the planet’s surface. They lie beyond countries’ national waters and thus sit under a governance regime that has not evolved in response to modern scientific understanding or to rapid advances in extractive technologies.

An international opinion survey has showed overwhelming public support for sustainable management of the global ocean. Eighty-five percent of respondents in 13 countries said governments should take the needs of future generations into account when deciding how to manage the high seas, with only 5% opposed. There is a clear emphasis on this management to ensure that criminality is not allowed to take a grip on the moves of society offshore.

The Global Ocean Commission, jointly chaired by former Costa Rican President José María Figueres, South African Minister Trevor Manuel and former UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband, will issue a set of recommendations for reform in the first half of 2014.

It seems likely that accountability will be a key element of these developments. The pressure is already beginning to build and there have been calls for all vessels on the high seas to carry identification numbers and be trackable using satellite or other technology. While, currently, passenger ships and merchant vessels over 500GRT have to carry unique and unchangeable International Maritime Organization (IMO) numbers, and to operate equipment allowing real-time tracking there are concerns that other craft on the high seas do not.

According to the Commission, Governments are well aware of the security issue, and many of them are taking steps to combat it in their own waters. However out on the high seas, it’s a different matter; there’s been very little progress, despite clear evidence of criminal activity including piracy, drug smuggling and illegal fishing.

The future of maritime security is therefore to become an accepted, trusted, recognised and respected part of an integrated solution. Where we might see a future of unmanned vessels we will need to see the security threats and implications properly and effectively managed. Where we might see people living in offshore communities, we will need to have security built in as a prerequisite and as a key element of society’s move over the horizon.

Over the next decade, we will likely see the same old threats evolve, but become wider spread. The curse of piracy will adapt and take root in the places where the climate is most conducive – such as the current shift from East to West Africa. The same with smuggling and terrorism – where there is a weakness it will be exploited.

While the growth of our current trades will drive the short term growth out at sea it will likely be the predicted population explosion which will shape the responses beyond that. The need for space will likely see more people looking to the sea for room to live, work and thrive. It seems the key to maritime security in the longer term is one of anticipating the technological, sociological and demographical changes and being able to provide the solutions which ensure that protection and defence are built in as a core basic consideration.

It seems that civil society and industry will likely move beyond the traditional borders and barriers of today, and that will pose a significant challenge for the commercial interests leading the charge. We should not allow the fears of criminality to limit our expansion into a brave new oceanic world, but we should recognise the threats and deal with them. That is the role of maritime security into the future, and one which will be based not on being typecast as a provider of muscle, but on intelligence, innovation, data, equipment, technology and hardware.

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© The Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI) 2013, all rights reserved; “Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI) Looks to the Future” may be copied and distributed with attribution to the Security Association for the Maritime Industry and Piracy Daily. The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author.