Course: 34th Defense and Strategic Studies Course No.

College of Defense Studies, National

Defense University
International Security Module Paper

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Why development of a “New Maritime
Security Concept” is important for
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International Security and China?
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Author: HELLAS, Commander METAXAS Nikolaos, Hellenic Navy

December 2014
 AUTHORIZATION LETTER OF COPYRIGHT TO THE
PAPER

I, the undersigned, am fully aware of the Colleges’ relevant regulations

to protect intellectual property rights. I hereby authorize this paper to College
of Defense Studies, National Defense University, to republish the whole or
part of the paper, or store it in relevant data base for inquiry. The College may
preserve and compile this paper by various means, such as photocopy and
scanning.

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The views expressed here are my own and do not represent the Hellenic
Ministry of Defense, Hellenic Navy. For any comments email me at
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theaegeansailor@live.com.
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Signature: Nikolaos METAXAS

Date: 12-Jan-2015
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 Contents
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 2

1. WHAT IS “NEW” IN MARITIME SECURITY?..................................................... 3

1.1 NEW, NO-TRADITIONAL, THREATS IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT. ........................... 3

1.2 TRADITIONAL THREATS IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT: SOVEREIGNTY AND “NEW”

MARITIME DISPUTES. .......................................................................................................... 5

PART’S CONCLUSION........................................................................................................ 6

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2. WHO ARE THE “TODAY’S” ACTORS IN MARITIME SECURITY? .................. 6

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2.1 NATO ....................................................................................................................... 7

2.2 E.U. ........................................................................................................................... 8

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PART’S CONCLUSION........................................................................................................ 9
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3. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 11
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3.1 CONSTRUCTIVE SUGGESTIONS ................................................................................. 11

3.2 -CLOSING REMARKS ................................................................................................ 11

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BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................................................................................................. 13
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 Why development of a “New Maritime Security
Concept” is important for International Security and
China?

Introduction

Maritime environment constantly changes and new maritime issues upraises in every
human period. Maybe some threats and challenges are looking the same of the old times,

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like for example the piracy issues, but none of these are the same in their “nature” and in

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their “behaviors”.

China wants a peaceful development and a harmonic rise among the other states of
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the world. One of the most important issues that China faces our days is the maritime issues:
islands sovereignty, delimitation of maritime zones, maritime disputes, maritime
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exploration and exploration etc.
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We still care a lot about national interests that maritime environment provides to us
but we also care about the sea environment itself, the protection of human lives working at
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the sea, the better exploration and exploitation of the sea natural -living or not- resources.

Nowadays the sea provides so much to the human kind: from fisheries to hydrocarbon
products and from transportation to climate equilibrium that it would be a waste of time for
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the humanity if our efforts don’t include the common development of common interests
and common protection against common threats and challenges.

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 1. What is “new” in Maritime Security?
Maybe the best know maritime security challenge of our days is the, East Coast of
Africa, Somali piracy. Piracy may looks like a fashion trend for the audience of cinemas
around the world because of the movies that have been played the last years, like for
example “Pirates of the Caribbean”1, and for sure is the very old one but not the only one
in contemporary world.

To name just some of them, in no hierarchical order, such as are: Illegal immigration,
Oil bunkering and smuggling, Human and Narcotics trafficking and smuggling,
Environmental degradation and accidents, Illegal-unreported-unregulated fishing (IUU),

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Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and Arms trafficking, Piracy and

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terrorism, and last but not least Maritime disputes (McQuaid, Julia, Voelker, 2009 August).
Let’s have a fresh look to just a few of them.
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1.1 New, No-Traditional, Threats in the marine environment.
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We live in a globalization era. The Cold –War era is belonging to the human history.
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In the post-modernity time we live, it is so important to re-capsulate the set and the means
of the security concepts like we reformulate the relations between states and improve the
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international security. The marine environment used to be, before the end of Cold-War, the
barrier or the frontier between the west and the east, between the developed and
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developing countries. The high seas also used to be the confutation space for a lot of
confrontations, from embargos to genuine naval battles. Today the Sea Lanes of
Communication (SLOCs) still are, at the same time, the main way for the international,
regional and internal commerce and for strategic lift of any power or International

1
Four films series of Disney. Walt Disney Studios has pushed past the $4 billion mark at the global box office for
2014.http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/34725/disney-passes-4-billion-at-box-office, assessed at Friday, December 26,
2014

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Organization which provides development, assistant or relief in any part of our world.

What have changed in the perspective of international maritime community were the
tragic events of 11 September 2001. Before that the International Maritime Organization
(IMO) was responsible for the safety of life at sea and environmental protection and was
recognized by well known, from all seafarers, SOLAS Convention2. “The world relies on a
safe, secure and efficient international shipping industry – and this is provided by the
regulatory framework developed and maintained by IMO” (Introduction to IMO ). A lot of
discussions followed in IMO and the terrorism became the main threat in the maritime
security and the aim become to reduce the possibility of targeting to passengers, port and

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onboard personnel, cargos, ships and ports. As a result was the development of a new

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chapter, SOLAS XI-2, and the publication of new measures for international shipping and
port security such as the ISPS Code (Trelawny).
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Illegal-unreported-unregulated fishing (IUU) may easily, only by the name, be
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recognized like a challenge for maritime security but it is not rather difficult to associate
her with illegal activities and maritime threats such as transnational organized crime and
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piracy. It is well known that the mother ships of Somali piracy are big fishery vessels, like
trowels, but also must be under high consideration that fisherman’s skills and practice in
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the sea are the best credentials for recruiting them and using them in a lot of forms of
crimes. It is also very important to note that fishing boats have found to be used for
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smuggling, drugs and weapons traffic, and acts of terrorism in a study about vulnerability
of the fishing industry to the transnational organized criminal groups. One of the biggest
vulnerability is a general “lack of governance and rule of law in the fishing industry”,
principally “a lack of ability or willingness of some flag States to enforce their criminal

2
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, Adoption: 1 November 1974; Entry into
force: 25 May 1980, for more details look at
http://www.imo.org/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/International-Convention-for-the-Safety-of-Life-at-
Sea-(SOLAS),-1974.aspx

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law jurisdiction” and “a lack of international endorsement of existing international
regulation of the safety of fishing vessels and working conditions of fishers at sea”
(UNODC, 2011, pp. 3-5).

The corruption of the issuance of fishing licenses and the pure surveillance about
these small boats are just the symptoms of the main problem which is the lack of a modus
operandi in the fishing industry in order to be sustainable and free from criminal activities.
There are so many to be done like: improve intelligence gathering, investigations, law
enforcement and prosecution and raise awareness. Only by enhancing regional and
international cooperation we can guarantee all the above and also the stock of fish supplies

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and the freedom of fisherman of being victims by their own abilities (UNODC, 2011, pp.

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130-140).
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1.2 Traditional Threats in the marine environment: Sovereignty and
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“new” Maritime disputes.
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Maritime disputes are not new in our world. The situation in the South China Sea is
one of them and determined largely by the "line of nine points" as she had just conceived
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by the previous “national” Government of China and for long was left in the wake of the
history. The “new” socialist Government has lifted this line, nearly twenty years, as an area
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which historically belongs to her and now she claims. Although many of these claims are
far beyond the 200 n.m. that the law of the sea identifies as the limit of the EEZ there are
not any dealing with the objects or adjacent States, except the Gulf of Tonkin with Viet-
Nam3.

The claim of Islands, islets and coral reef-atoll is not just for their sovereignty but also

3
http://www.mofa.gov.vn/en/nr040807104143/nr111027144142/ns120625222640/newsitem_print_preview,
Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh clarifies content of Viet Nam Maritime Law, acceded in Saturday, January 03, 2015

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for their fishery and energy and marine nature areas that are included in these clusters.
There are a lot of opponent States which claims corresponding pieces of this huge area as
the P.R. of China, the Philippines (Spratly Islands Parasel Islands & & Scarborough Shoal),
Brunei, Malaysia and Viet Nam (Parasel & Spratly Islands).

Policy makers in China are aware that the peaceful development of China requires a
peaceful settlement of disputes and stable regional environment, especially along the
southern coast (Kunsheng, 2014). Hence, the new China's diplomatic route is the
improvement of relations through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as
a key to creating a more peaceful and stable regional environment or bilateral agreements

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as a key factor for resolving the disputes (Xinhuanet, 2014).

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Part’s conclusion te
China in order to sustain a peaceful development proclaims the cooperative and under
consultation evolvement of a traditional threat in maritime security such as the maritime
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disputes in South China Sea.
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It is most probably the same to happen, or better said happening already, in the
nontraditional international maritime threats also, like in the security of SLOCs, anti-piracy
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operations and fisheries exploitation.

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2. Who are the “today’s” actors in Maritime Security?

We live in a globalized world, yet still experience a lot of insecurity. On the one hand,
the effort to define/establish "Maritime Security" is not new; on the other, it could hardly
be regarded as outdated. It constitutes a continuous effort to increase the security of the
world in general. It is also an illustration that the boundaries between safety and security

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are so foggy. Maritime security is shaped at various levels: tactical, operational, strategic;
by various providers: International Organisations, Regional Organisations, States; and in
different layers/approaches: governmental/intergovernmental or unilateral/multilateral.
Under this vision there is no single definition of maritime security of universal acceptance
and provision.

The above conclusion is so clearly obvious, that in the Report of the Secretary-
General to the Sixty-third session of United Nations General Assembly (A/63/6310 March
2008), in article 39 it is stated that:

There is no universally accepted definition of the term “maritime security”. Much like the

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concept of “national security”, it may differ in meaning, depending on the context and the users. At its

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narrowest conception, maritime security involves protection from direct threats to the territorial

integrity of a State, such as an armed attack from a military vessel. Most definitions also usually
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include security from crimes at sea, such as piracy, armed robbery against ships, and terrorist acts.
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However, intentional and unlawful damage to the marine environment, including from illegal dumping

and the discharge of pollutants from vessels, and depletion of natural resources, such as from IUU
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fishing, can also threaten the interests of States, particularly coastal States. Various approaches have

been taken to maritime security, depending on the State’s perspective of the interests that may be
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threatened, either directly or indirectly, by activities in the oceans and seas.

Let’s see only a couple of the international actors that play a role in the provision of
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maritime security, as a contributor in the international security concept in general, and how
they act:

2.1 NATO

Maritime Security is equally important for NATO, as a pillar of the Alliance’s security
–the other three are contribution to deterrence and collective defence, crisis management,
and cooperative security– an approach to addressing security threats through the
contribution of a wide range of maritime security operations. Being a collective defence
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organization, NATO’s primary response is to set naval assets in a deterrence and defence
role. Maritime interdiction operations, from June 1992 till October 1996, in the Adriatic
Sea, 21st century Counter-piracy "Ocean Shield' operation in the Gulf of Aden, and
Counter-terrorism Operation Active Endeavour (OAE), the Alliance’s only Article 5
operation, give us a good example of NATO contribution to building a safe and secure
environment (SASE) in the maritime domain.

Additionally, it is well established that international coordination, such as that

between NATO and the EU-lead operations out of the coasts of Somalia, or within the IMO
framework, like the "Djibouti Code of Conduct" concerning the Repression of Piracy and

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Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, plays an

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essential role in enhancing initiatives and providing adequate response to maritime
challenges. During the last years the context of Maritime security has also included the
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contribution, under NAC (North Atlantic Council) approval, in energy security, the
protection of critical energy infrastructure and sea lines of communication. OAE’s support
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to the Greek authorities in securing the 2004 Olympic Games is a good example of the
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“collective defence at sea” and the approach that the Alliance is taking.4

2.2 E.U.
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The European Union's efforts in maritime security were initially expressed through the
development of an Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP), which included limited security
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dimensions and various aspects of all EU agencies and programs involved, from marine
pollution and safety to illegal fishing and counter-narcotics, dealing mostly with economic
development, promoting a sustainable use of maritime resources, while at the same time
protecting the marine environment. It is only recently, as part of the Common Security and

4
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_75615.htm?selectedLocale=en, 18 Mar. 2011

Alliance Maritime Strategy and http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_70759.htm?selectedLocale=en, NATO

naval operations / accessed in March 9, 2014

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Defence Policy (CSDP) and after the December 2013 European Council decisions, that an
overarching EU maritime security strategy is approved, an initiative of the Hellenic
Presidency. Council at 24 June 2014 endorsed an EU maritime security strategy as a
framework for effectively and comprehensively addressing the EU's maritime security
challenges5.

Nevertheless, the EU has been implementing a variety of initiatives and operations,

such as the European Agency for the Management and Operational Cooperation at the
External Borders (FRONTEX), that promotes maritime surveillance of the Union’s
maritime borders and management of maritime spaces, or operation EUNAVFOR-Atalanta ,

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the first naval operation deployed in November 2008 under the Common Security and

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Defence Policy (CSDP). At first, its mission was to provide protection to ships carrying
food aid to Somalia as part of the World Food Programme; later, it was combined with a
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strengthening mission to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the institutions of
Somalia (EUCAP Nestor), as well as a military training mission in Somalia (EUTM
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Somalia).
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The EU and its member-states have also demonstrated the ability to practically
cooperate and coordinate with other actors, including international organisations, and to
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take into consideration a broader approach to maritime security. Particularly, in the case of
maritime security out of the coasts of Somalia, the EU and its member states cooperated
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and coordinated with the UN, NATO, as well as other Navies states, such as China and
India.

Part’s conclusion

Each and every marine or maritime actor that is interested in, or wants or can

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http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/EN/genaff/143352.pdf, EU maritime security
strategy approved at Luxembourg, http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-17002-2014-INIT/en/ , European
Union Maritime Security Strategy (EUMSS) - Action Plan, acceded at 03 January 3.

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contribute for, will formulate maritime security to suit its own interests by any means to
the pursuit of security. From the other hand reliability is a strong incentive nowadays,
especially when decisions have to do with public opinion and legitimacy.

However, no matter how impossible a definition of maritime security may seem, we

must strive to formulate maritime security into international security concept; otherwise,
the credibility of any organization is at risk, while the desired outcome is in danger of be
usurped by all other similar agencies which might get involved.

We cannot evaluate maritime security, unless we clarify the kind of threats and risks
that we care about and want to tackle in this context. Indeed, the whole procedure of

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maritime security could be perceived as "an evolution rather than a definition or a

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revolution in maritime affairs". te
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 3. Conclusion

3.1 Constructive suggestions

Till the end of the Cold War the Sea Power considered as the main solution to threats
becoming from the sea in general. Even nowadays more nations expend even more to the
growth of their Navies.

Navies’ capabilities are not enough alone to establish maritime security. It is more
than evidence that international and regional cooperation is inevitable to enhance and
concrete the sense of maritime security and in adherence the sense of international security.

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Information sharing culture and maritime surveillance are component ingredients for

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the international community to address all the challenges in the sea environment. Similar to
the air awareness must be built the sea awareness.
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Maritime security is, or should be, the new challenge for almost all countries of the
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globe, since the sea is the environment that characterizes us, unites us and does not
separates us.
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It is fairly obvious that, what is most critical is the direction we will take as regards
what we perceive and conceive as a threat.
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Another observation is that we cannot see the seas as nothing else than a global whole,
and our effort within this system must be synchronized with any other action at sea and in
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land by all other actors. There are no physical boundaries of the seas, but there are different
perspectives as to her exploitation and protection.

3.2 -Closing remarks

The narrow perception of the defence concept which contained within the concept of
maritime security, especially during the Cold War period, deprive us the broader picture

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that ought to have.

Maritime security, although it is not commonly accepted as definition, as many of the

security-defence objects, however as a concept offers a multitude of acts, actions and
results such as:

The seamless transport of people and goods, ensuring by maritime transport lines
(SLOC: sea lanes of communication) that are the increasingly critical and the larger in
volume "way" of transaction, exchange, and reconciliation for mankind.

The notable, reliable and continuous transfer of energy (described as energy security),
either via ships, either through under- water pipelines (for all hydrocarbon products and
electricity) to provide the necessary driving force of “electrical/electronic” of our culture.

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The safe transit and transportation of those goods and services in ports (described as

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port security), and from these crucial nodes in processing, sorting and delivery to people.
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The ensuring qualitative and quantitative nutrition (described as food security) at most
of the world's population through fishing or/and production of marine organisms living in
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the sea environment which does not "know" borders, sovereignty and sovereign rights.
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