Maritime security is concerned with the prevention of intentional damage through sabotage, subversion, terrorism and the like including port, vessel and facility security. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) entered into force in 2004, under which the measures included amendments to the 1974 Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) and new International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code containing detailed securityrelated requirements for governments, port authorities and shipping companies. However, all these and lack of multilateral approach have failed to combat maritime disorder and the 21st century maritime security challenges holistically. As per the World Bank estimates, this assumes all the more significance with global seaborne trade pegged at 41,800 billion tonnes by 2014.

South China Sea

The South China Sea is one of the world’s busiest international sea lanes—a maritime superhighway for the world economy. Much intra-regional trade depends on these shipping lanes. More than half the global annual merchant tonnages pass through the Straits of Malacca, Sunda and Lombok, with majority continuing into the South China Sea. Over the next 20 years, oil consumption among developing Asian countries is expected to rise by four per cent annually on an average, with about half of the increase coming from China. If this growth rate is maintained, oil demand for these nations will reach 25 million barrels per day by 2020. Almost all of this additional Asian oil demand, as well as Japan’s oil needs, will need to be imported from the Middle East and Africa. Almost all of it will pass through the strategic Strait of Malacca into the South China Sea. This adds to the importance of the South China Sea region which contains oil and gas resources strategically located near large energy-consuming countries. Tanker traffic through the Strait of Malacca into South China Sea is more than three times the Suez Canal traffic and over five times through Panama Canal. More than half of the world’s supertanker traffic passes through the region’s waters. The large volume of shipping in South China Sea/Straits of Malacca area has also created opportunities for attacks on merchant shipping. Strategic location of the South China Sea has thus resulted in heightened strife in recent years including mining activity, claims and counter claims.

Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC)

Views and perceptions on SLOCs vary widely in today’s world. The military analysts view SLOCs as maritime instruments of power and maritime geography becomes a pivot for deploying forces. For the politician, SLOCs signify the state of relations with countries located along the sea route traversed. Without doubt, the best approach to SLOC security would be extensive multilateral cooperation. However, this requires adoption of comprehensive strategies encompassing differing perceptions and national interests of all states, as some perceive multilateral cooperation for SLOC security as intrusion into their sovereignty.

India and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)

India is essentially a maritime nation as its peninsular landmass extends to nearly 1,600 kilometres into the sea. India’s maritime frontiers consist of a coastline of 7,683 kilometres and an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 2.01 million square kilometres. About 97 per cent of Indian trade is by sea. The Indian Ocean links the Mediterranean and Pacific Oceans and is the gateway to emerging markets of South East Asia. Navies of many countries transit the area. Offshore oil production on the west coast of India which commenced as a small scale operation in mid-1970s is now a rapidly expanding area. The offshore infrastructure over the years has developed to include 30 process platforms and more than 125 well platforms producing 32.7 metric tonnes of crude annually. In addition, more than 3,000 kilometres of pipeline on the seabed transports oil and gas from the processing platforms to onshore terminals. Existing offshore regions where production is currently taking place cover a total area in excess of 17,000 square nautical miles, extending more than 100 nautical miles into the EEZ. Investments in offshore oil infrastructure in last 25 years have a replacement value of about $50 billion ( Rs. 2,25,000 crore).

Way back in 1897, Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan had said, “Whoever controls the Indian Ocean will dominate Asia. This ocean will be the key to the seven seas in the 21st century. The destiny of the world will be decided on its waters.” The Indian Ocean accounts for the transportation of the highest tonnage of goods in the world. On its waters are carried two third of the world’s oil shipments, one-third of bulk cargo traffic and half the world’s container shipments. Almost 1,80,000 ships transit this ocean annually. As interdependence of nations continues to grow, prolonged interruption of the vast amount of trade through these waters would seriously damage the economics of almost all nations across the globe. The strategic maritime rectangle encompassing the Straits of Hormuz and Malacca and interlinking oceans, account for twothird of global energy flows—almost entire oil capacities of Japan and China transit these vital sea lines of communication. The area witness massive amounts of oil flow daily—15.5 million barrels through the Persian Gulf, 3.3 million barrels through the Gulf of Aden and 10.3 million barrels through the Malacca Straits.

The IOR is riddled with geopolitics of mental and physical conflict as also economic diversity. Terrorism, piracy, illegal arms ingress, drug smuggling, human trafficking and natural disasters afflict the region. Environmental degradation of the seas has become a global problem and the IOR is having its own share of this including on account of massive shipping activity. Sulphur emissions and oil spills affect the environment and low lying islands are vulnerable to rising sea levels and impact of global warming. The Indian concerns include the increasing threats of mutual interference, submarine and nuclear weapons proliferation, vulnerability of SLOCs, oil spills and pollution, environmental degradation, absence of an international mechanism for disaster management and technological dependency.

Multinational Presence

Navies of many countries traverse the Indian Ocean. Combined Task Force (CTF)- 150 is a multinational coalition naval task force to monitor, inspect, board and stop suspect shipping to pursue the “war on terrorism” and includes operations in the North Arabia Sea to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, and operations in the Indian Ocean to support Operation Enduring Freedom. Countries currently contributing to CTF-150 include Canada, France, Germany, Pakistan, UK and the US. The other nations who have participated include Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey. CTF 152 is responsible for operations in the Central and Southern Arabian Gulf. CTF 158 is maintaining security in and around both the oil terminals in support of the UN Security Council Resolution 1723, which charges the multinational force with the responsibility and authority to maintain security and stability in Iraqi territorial waters and also supports the Iraqi Government’s request for security support. As part of the war on terrorism, US troops occupy Camp Lemonier in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa. Formed into the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF)-Horn of Africa, they are positioned to wage war on Al-Qaeda elements and their supporters in Yemen, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) Anti Piracy Task Force Atlanta is operating off the Somalia coast since December 2009 from the Horn of Africa. The European Union Task Force operating in the area since earlier has merged with Task Force Atlanta. The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Norway, Denmark and US have also offered their warships to this anti-piracy force, which is also known as Standing NATO Maritime Group 1. In addition, China, India and Russia also maintain anti-piracy naval presence in the area but there is no coordination between these forces.

Sea Piracy

Piracy has become the bane of the modern seafarer. The numerous cases of reported and unreported piracy have led to considerable concern and multinational efforts to control this violent menace. The Malacca Straits, South China Sea, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea are the areas that have been most affected by piracy. This heavy infestation of piracy has a lot to do with the geography of the area, but economic conditions and the mindset of the coastal people in the hundreds of minor islands that lace the Malacca Straits, South China Sea and African coastline are also a significant factor. In more recent years, Somali pirates have expanded their operations very considerably and piracy-related incidents have spilled into the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The emerging organisation and infrastructure of Somali piracy, with command trawlers, controlling groups of smaller vessels, can well be exploited by terror organisations like Al-Qaeda and Lashkar e-Toiba.

‘Whoever controls the Indian Ocean, will dominate Asia’
—Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan