Over recent decades, it has been widely recognised that terrorist attacks at sea could result in major casualties and cause significant disruptions to the free flow of international shipping. After discussing the overlaps and distinctions between piracy and maritime terrorism, this book considers how the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, and other vessel identification and tracking measures in the 1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, would be likely to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks at sea. It explains how the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is less than clear on the powers of states to protect offshore installations, submarine cables and pipelines from interference by terrorists. In light of these uncertainties, it considers how the 2005 Protocol to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Maritime Navigation, the doctrine of necessity and states’ inherent self-defence rights might apply in the maritime security context. A significant contribution of the book is the formulation of the Maritime Terrorism Threat Matrix, which provides a structured framework for examining how maritime terrorism incidents have occurred, and might occur in the future. The book also examines the relevant national maritime security legislation for preventing maritime terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom and in Australia. The book concludes by formulating guidelines for the unilateral interdiction of suspected terrorist vessels in exceptional circumstances, and recommending priorities for governments and international maritime industries to focus on in order to reduce the risk for terrorist attacks at sea. It will be of interest to those working in the areas of Law and Terrorism, Law of the Sea, Maritime Law and Insurance and International Law.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, concerns that terrorists might utilise vessels to transport weaponry, terrorist operatives and/or to finance their activities prompted several international legal developments. This book evaluates the extent to which the international maritime security measures developed following the 9/11 attacks would be likely to prevent the utilisation of vessels to facilitate terrorist activities. It considers the likely effectiveness of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code for improving vessel and port security, and the 2005 Protocol to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Maritime Navigation in facilitating the interdiction of suspected terrorist vessels. It also explains how the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative - a cooperative effort through which participant governments agree to prevent the illicit transfers of Weapons of Mass Destruction and related materials – has provoked debate about the legality of vessel interdictions under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the LOSC). After exploring alternative interpretations of the LOSC, and states’ self-defence rights under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, it formulates suggested guidelines for the unilateral interdiction of suspected terrorist support vessels in exceptional circumstances. The book also discusses the relevant recommendations by the OECD’s Financial Action Taskforce for preventing the financing of terrorism, and the national maritime security legislation for preventing the maritime facilitation of terrorist activities in the United Kingdom and in Australia. The book concludes by emphasising the importance of the continual active implementation of ship, port facility and supply chain security measures, and of further enhancing international cooperation to facilitate vessel interdictions. It will be of interest to those working in the areas of Law and Terrorism, Law of the Sea, Maritime Law and Insurance and International Law.

A total of 2,463 actual or attempted acts of piracy were registered around the world between 2000 and the end of 2006. This represents an annual average incident rate of 352, a substantial increase over the mean of 209 recorded for the period of 1994 1999. The concentration of pirate attacks continues to be greatest in Southeast Asia, especially in the waters around the Indonesian archipelago (including stretches of the Malacca Straits that fall under the territorial jurisdiction of the Jakarta government), which accounted for roughly 25 percent of all global incidents during 2006. Seven main factors have contributed to the general emergence of piracy in the contemporary era. First and most fundamentally, there has been a massive increase in commercial maritime traffic. Combined with the large number of ports around the world, this growth has provided pirates with an almost limitless range of tempting, high-payoff target. Second is the higher incidence of seaborne commercial traffic that passes through narrow and congested maritime chokepoints. These bottlenecks require ships to significantly reduce speed to ensure safe passage, which dramatically heightens their exposure to midsea interception and attack.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 heightened awareness about the vulnerability to terrorist attack of all modes of transportation. Port security has emerged as a significant part of the overall debate on U.S. homeland security. The U.S. maritime system consists of more than 300 sea and river ports with more than 3,700 cargo and passenger terminals. However, a large fraction of maritime cargo is concentrated at a few major ports. Most ships calling at U.S. ports are foreign owned with foreign crews. Container ships have been the focus of much of the attention on seaport security because they are particularly vulnerable to terrorist infiltration. More than 6 million marine containers enter U.S. ports each year. While the Customs Service analyses cargo information to target specific shipments for closer inspection, it physically inspects only about 2 per cent of the containers. This new book examines the security legislation, which can have significant implications for public safety, the war on terrorism, the U.S. and global economy and federal, state and local homeland security responsibilities. Contents: Introduction; Concerns for Port Security; Features of the U.S. Mariti

Legal Challenges in Maritime Security provides in-depth analysis of current international and regional approaches to maritime security, cargo, port and supply chain security, maritime information sharing and capacity building. The work describes measures in place at multilateral and regional levels to improve information sharing and operational coordination regarding security threats to shipping, offshore installations and port facilities.