The geopolitical dimension of maritime security

This article discusses the geopolitical dimension of maritime security, which has been neglected by scholars despite the growing number of studies devoted to a variety of aspects related to maritime security. The first step consists in clarifying the definitions of the two concepts; ‘geopolitics’ and ‘maritime security’. Then the article introduces the geopolitical dimension of maritime security from a conceptual perspective, and then analyses three practical examples of maritime security geo-strategies released in 2014. The results demonstrate that states’ and international institutions’ maritime security objectives and interests are indirectly and directly influenced by geographical and geopolitical considerations, although this link is only tacitly acknowledged in official documents. Scholars and practitioners interested in maritime security are encouraged to further engage with this dimension.     

Ocean governance in a competitive world. The BRIC countries as emerging maritime powers—building new geopolitical scenarios

Owing to their style and economic impact, Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries) are destined to become relevant actors in the new ocean governance. The following working hypothesis is sustained: the BRIC countries, due to the potential of their maritime territories, can be considered to be emerging maritime powers capable of displacing some of the historical maritime powers. This would also entail a shift of strategic maritime space towards the southern hemisphere. Other emerging maritime scenarios associated with the BRIC countries include the Russian Arctic, and the Indo-Pacific ocean belt, or “string of pearls”, as it is known. Factors such as competitiveness, maritime leadership and ocean governance are thus placed in a new economic and political context where they might be redefined and adapted to the circumstances of the BRIC block and other emerging countries, the majority of which are subject to demographic pressure and a high degree of poverty. The most relevant conclusions point to the emergence of a new type of neo-navalism, on the one hand—a BRIC version of traditional sea power and, on the other, a possible threat to the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy under pressure from strong competitiveness in a highly internationalised environment, forcing changes in its original approach with its distinct social profiles and commitment to latest generation rights.     

Co-management approaches and incentives improve management effectiveness in the Karimunjawa National Park,Indonesia

Karimunjawa National Park (KNP) was among the first maritime areas recognized in Indonesia as being important for the conservation of marine biodiversity. Economic incentives in the KNP aim to decrease community dependency on wild-captured natural resources and achieve biodiversity and development objectives. Various participatory mechanisms facilitate community involvement in governance, whilst other incentives promoting awareness and support for fishery regulations are being delivered. Monitoring programs have demonstrated some ecological improvements and reductions in destructive fishing in the park over the past five years. The findings demonstrate that MPA policies and regulations can improve the social well-being and political power of fishing communities, particularly when appropriate economic, legal and participatory incentives are provided.     

海警视域下的海上安全威胁及应对策略

当前海警机构在海上遂行任务时面临多种形式的海上安全威胁,除常规安全威胁外,以海上军事冲突威胁和海上恐怖主义威胁为代表的非常规安全威胁正使海警面临越发严峻的海上综合实战能力考验。文章通过对海警视域下海上安全威胁的综合分析,提出提升装备体系化建设水平、增强人员实战化训练效果和探索海警多能化发展模式等应对策略,以期为海警未来妥善应对各类海上安全威胁及风险挑战提供有益参考。     

Food security and the Coral Triangle Initiative

The Asia-Pacific's Coral Triangle is defined by its extremely high marine biodiversity. Over one hundred million people living in its coastal zones use this biodiversity to support their livelihoods. Hundreds of millions more derive nutritious food directly from the region′s marine resources and through local, regional and global trade. Biodiversity and its values to society are threatened by demographic and habitat change, rising demand, intensive harvesting and climate change. In partnership with international conservation organisations and development funders, the governments of the region′s six countries have come together to develop the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security. The CTI has explicit goals and defined targets for marine biodiversity conservation, but not for the food security of the region′s marine-resource dependent people, despite this being the wider aim used to justify conservation action. This article suggests how the food security aim of the CTI could be made more explicit. It outlines the complex pathways linking marine biodiversity with food security and argues that improved social science analysis, inter-sectoral policy and management interactions are necessary if conserving marine biodiversity is to contribute towards meeting food security challenges in the region.     

Integrated management of marine biodiversity in Europe: Perspectives from ICZM and the evolving EU Maritime Policy framework

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is high on the international agenda for nature conservation. Marine and coastal ecosystems account for an important share of the biological diversity on Earth. As a consequence many international conventions, European legislation and national laws refer to marine biodiversity. The protection of marine biodiversity is a complex legal issue as it requires consideration of geographic (between land and sea), political (between conservation and exploitation), and economic (between fisheries, tourism, intellectual property and many other sectors) factors. Like Matryoshka dolls, marine biodiversity is a heterogeneous notion difficult to address as one discrete area in the development of policy agendas or juridical frameworks. In the past decade, the EU has been very active in Promoting Integrated Coastal Zone Management and in developing a framework for an Integrated Maritime Policy. This article reviews the status of marine biodiversity in the policy and legal initiatives of the European Union, a challenging issue to both the objectives of conservation and to the concept of integration.     

Changing maritime scenarios. The geopolitical dimension of the EU Atlantic Strategy

The European Union׳s Integrated Maritime Policy (EU IMP) is being developed in the framework of a process that is reshaping maritime geographical scenarios and world geopolitics. This process is characterised by a change in States׳ territoriality resulting from their jurisdictional expansion. Over 60% of coastal States in the world possess territory with a more extensive maritime component than the terrestrial component which helps to reaffirm the fragmentation of maritime space and stresses the national vision of the oceans. Unlike the process of ocean space fragmentation that results from its nationalisation the EU Integrated Maritime Policy has a global and cooperative vision, which is particularly evident in the Atlantic Strategy. In this context, this article aims to: (i) provide a first estimate of the size and extent of the territorial changes resulting from jurisdictional claims available to date and their mapping; (ii) consider the case of the European Union as one of special significance with its express policy of maritime spatial projection. The conclusions point to a redefinition of the large territorial pieces of the global geopolitics puzzle and the emergence of a new Atlanticism associated with the EU׳s maritime policy.     

Ocean governance and maritime security in a placeful environment: The case of the European Union

Adopting a critical geopolitics approach that accounts for the mutually reinforcing link between geo-informed narratives and projection practices, this article proposes that ocean governance and maritime security have translated into states' and regional organisations' increasing control over maritime spaces. This leads to a certain territorialisation of the sea, not so much from a sovereignty and jurisdictional perspective but from a functional and normative perspective. The article starts by discussing the ways oceans have been represented and shows that they are far from a placeless void, both in practice and in discourse. The article then frames the analysis of ocean governance and maritime security within critical geopolitics, and elaborates on the case of the European Union's narrative and practice. It concludes on the mutually reinforcing link between discourse and practice in the field of ocean governance and maritime security in general, and on the consequences for the EU in particular. Scholars working on ocean governance and maritime security are encouraged to challenge the traditional view that oceans are placeless.     

The European vision for oceans and seas—Social and political dimensions of the Green Paper on Maritime Policy for the EU

The EU Green Paper on Maritime Policy is the European response to the new generation of ocean strategies based on science, technology and innovation aimed at new objectives, such as the strengthening of security and access to new resources. The European character of the proposal is found in the presence of social, cultural and historical elements, what is called the “European vision”. The viability of a European vision of the oceans and the idea of maritime empire as an extension of the current concept of empire within the general context of emerging ocean strategies are the elements offered up for debate on this European Union initiative.     

Maritime piracy confrontations across the globe: Can crew action shape the outcomes?

The recent tightening of military budget constraints has called into question the feasibility of costly multilateral naval intervention used to combat maritime piracy off the eastern coast of Africa. Though past studies agree that the transformation of the Somali economy and government is crucial for a long-term solution to piracy in this part of the world, short to medium-run solutions are needed to bridge the gap. Such solutions should be fiscally sensible and serve as effective deterrents, as well as be applicable in addressing the problem of piracy and maritime armed robbery in other parts of the globe. This paper builds upon the foundations laid in Mejia et al. [12] and Mileski et al. [13] by examining the following question: given that a ship is engaged by pirates, what factors help shape the outcome of the confrontation? This study finds that observable action taken on the part of a ship's crew is extremely effective in decreasing the risk of a ship being successfully robbed or hijacked. There has yet (as of May 2014) to be a reported incident where pirates successfully hijacked a vessel that had a security team on board, and so though the effectiveness of security in this matter can be inferred, it cannot be empirically tested (the same is true – in this study's dataset – of the effect of onboard security on deterring robberies). This may provide some guidance for policymakers; if naval intervention is to be scaled back, the encouragement and oversight of shipping companies’ crew response procedures (and perhaps of onboard security measures) by international governments could pose a valid alternative.     

Maritime Europe and EU enlargement. A geopolitical perspective

The 2004 enlargement of the European Union (EU), as well as the further enlargements planned from 2007 onwards (Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Turkey), entail changes of a geo-political nature that not only imply an increase in size (a rise in the number of States, new boundaries), but, more especially, also involve a shift in the EU's maritime status, with its projection towards the Atlantic now being checked by a swing towards continental Europe and its inland seas. In view of the new political map being drawn up, two questions beg to be asked: to what extent is Europe's maritime condition being strengthened; and, does the new maritime Europe constitute an opportunity, or does it aggravate the already-existing problems and threats?     

The Portuguese maritime spatial plan

Numerous national governments and supranational organizations such as the OSPAR Commission, the European Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have underlined the importance of maritime spatial planning (MSP) for balancing and solving conflicts between the needs of different sectors and conservation in the marine space. In the last decade, many maritime spatial plans have been developed around the world. The drivers to develop these plans and the approaches to find solutions for the particular problems differ significantly. The Portuguese national marine jurisdiction is one of the largest in Europe. For the continental part, a maritime spatial plan was initiated in 2009, and entered in 2010 in the final stage of approval. One of the driving forces for this MSP initiative was the claim to extend its continental shelf. The development process was led by a multidisciplinary team. Despite the challenges, the existing as well as potential future marine resources and activities were characterized, mapped and categorized. To overcome conflicts resulting from the many overlapping uses and to assure sustainable development of all sectors, a conflict analysis and evaluation of potential future uses were necessary. The applied zoning scheme represented an exercise of conflict solving and proved to be a powerful tool to promote discussion and participation among stakeholders. The successful implementation of Portuguese MSP will rely largely on its ability to provide efficient management, financial and legal mechanisms to achieve the integration of all strategies and spaces under the Portuguese maritime jurisdiction.     

海山生物多样性研究近10年国际发展态势与热点

海山是全球深海生物多样性的汇聚区, 且以其高富钴结壳资源和高渔业资源成为深海探测研究热点。海山生态系统易受到人为活动的影响, 海山及其冷水珊瑚被认为是脆弱海洋生态系统的重要构成部分。对海山生物多样性的破坏以及过度开发可能对海洋健康造成不可逆的严重影响, 法律和地缘政治等因素的影响也使得保护海山生物多样性面临很多挑战。本研究对海山生物多样性近10年(2001—2020年)的国际研究计划以及论文发表情况进行了综合分析, 探讨了海山生物多样性研究的国际发展态势和研究热点, 为海山生物多样性研究、保护与管理及相关国际合作的开展提供参考。     

Measuring the maritime economy: Spain in the European Atlantic Arc

Despite the importance of the socio-economic dimension of the use of marine waters, there has been little research in the field until recently, when interest has grown in the concept of ‘blue growth'. This paper aims to contribute to filling this gap with a socio-economic assessment of the main maritime sectors, focused on the Spanish part of the European Atlantic Arc. To this end, it first proposes a theoretical structure for the maritime economy and then collects and classifies comparable and reliable maritime socio-economic indicators. The data obtained allows us to assess the size of the Spanish maritime sector and the position of the Spanish Maritime Cluster in the wider context of the maritime economy of the European Atlantic, as well as discuss the appropriateness of a strategy of forming clusters at the national level vs. a transnational approach. The results indicate differences between regions in the European Atlantic Arc that complicate the development of integrated policies to stimulate blue growth. Extending our knowledge of the maritime economy of the European Atlantic Arc will make it possible to design strategies that address the real issues, increasing the likelihood of these being effective.     

Maritime security in Indonesia: Towards a comprehensive agenda?

Against the backdrop of Indonesian President Widodo's expressed intention to turn his country in to a maritime nation again, this article examines the way in which the Indonesian state understands and utilises the concept of maritime security. The article achieves this aim by discussing the results of a Training Needs Analysis of key Indonesian state maritime security actors, conducted as part of the first phase of a multi-stakeholder project examining how Indonesia's maritime security capacity can be improved.The article illustrates how key maritime actors within the Indonesian state demonstrate a diverse understanding of what maritime security is, and argues that there is a demonstrable willingness on their part to look beyond a narrow conceptualisation of security in the maritime domain, which is solely focused on military threats and the defence of the state, towards something more comprehensive. Here the Indonesian approach to maritime security mirrors in practice conceptual trends encapsulated in the emergence of maritime security studies. The article concludes that there is the potential for a more comprehensive maritime security agenda to take hold in Indonesia but that this will require continued strategic and policy focus on the maritime domain within the country, alongside an emphasis on partnership building both within the state and between the state and non-state actors.Consistent dialogue around how maritime security is conceptualised would be helpful in supporting these two conditions the article posits, elaborating the value of the human security lens for those interested in a more comprehensive approach to maritime security.     

湄洲湾海雾的初步分析

分析福建湄洲湾1985－1992年海雾的气候特点,发现79％的海雾发生在2－5月。应用中国气象局北京气象中心出版的历史天气图,对本区海雾进行天气学分型,结果表明,有89％的海雾出现在锋面偏北,南高北低,东脊型中,利用850hPa天气型的消空条件,结合气象因子和单站资料,得出了湄洲湾海雾的短期预报指标,并建立了预报方程。     

A decision-making system to maritime risk assessment

In this study, we propose a fuzzy approach in order to evaluate the maritime risk assessment applied to safety at sea and more particularly, the pollution prevention on the open sea. The work is based on the decision-making system, named MARISA, presented in Balmat et al. (2009). This system allowed defining a risk factor for each ship according to ship’s characteristics and weather conditions. In this novel paper, the proposed system takes into account the ship speed evolution and the ship position with respect to maritime shipping lanes is developed. To validate the method, we present an example of results with real data.     

Maritime health of Chinese seafarers

Seafarers make a critical contribution to civil society, but seafarers’ health has received comparatively little attention in the maritime world. China has the largest population of seafarers, and Chinese seafarers are working on board merchant ships flying different flags. The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 entered into force in China in November 2016, and it has already generated significant impact in terms of policy, legislation and maritime practice. However, while seafarers’ treatment has been improved significantly in many countries, in particular in developed countries, Chinese seafarers are still facing some challenges relating to health issues, such as long working hours, insufficient nutrition, lack of recreation and poor mental health. Based on existing knowledge and scholarship available in the public domain, together with primary data collected in several phases of fieldwork, this paper critically examines a number of major issues relating to maritime health of Chinese seafarers.     

The effectiveness of the ISM Code: A qualitative enquiry

Studies conducted to determine the efficacy of the ISM Code in the past include investigations of the trends of accident numbers and insurance claims and users' perceptions. None of these, however, could produce a definitive conclusion. This is because both the use of safety outcome as well as the use of perception have inherent problems and are not reliable. This paper takes a different approach. It draws on wider research on management of workplace health and safety to ascertain whether or not employment and social conditions that support effective implementation of self-regulation are present in the maritime context. The findings reveal a considerable disparity between managers' and seafarers' understanding of the use of the Code resulting in a wide gap between its intended purpose and practice. The analysis shows that the critical factor is the lack of seafarers' participation in management of workplace health and safety. The underlying causal factors for such lack of participation were located in seafarers' poor employment condition and low-trust relationship with their managers.     

The Guinea-Bissau–Senegal maritime boundary dispute

This article discusses the role of negotiation, arbitration, and that of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in resolving maritime boundary disputes in the Gulf of Guinea region. Primarily using the cases of Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, the paper highlights that joint maritime development agreements could be a better option for resolving existing maritime boundary disputes in the region rather than outright delimitation requests.