Lessons from the Field

Posts of this category discuss observations gathered from empirical material, such as field visits, interviews or stakeholder consultations

SafeSeas visits UK’s Joint Maritime Security Centre

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SafeSeas’ Scott Edwards and Tim Edmunds visited the UK’s Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC) in Portsdown on 6th October 2021. The visit followed the publication of their paper, written with Christian Bueger, in the RUSI Journal. Titled ‘Innovation and New Strategic Choices: Refreshing the UK’s National Strategy for Maritime Security’, the paper analysed the UK’s … Read more

How to improve the delivery of capacity building? Insights from a coordination meeting

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How can capacity building training for maritime security be better coordinated in West and Central Africa? This was the core question of a recent meeting – ‘Strategic Dialogue Workshop On West and Central Africa Maritime Security Training Capacity’ – held from 25 – 28 February 2020 in Accra, Ghana. The focus of the gathering was … Read more

From coordination to command: making Thailand’s maritime security governance more efficient?

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Safeseas Research Associate Scott Edwards recently had the opportunity to access insights from Thailand’s Maritime Enforcement Command Center (ThaiMECC). Previously the Maritime Enforcement Coordination Centre, the change of name is indicative of a new intended direction for the agency. ThaiMECC provides a new noteworthy example of Maritime Domain Awareness, which the Safeseas Best Practice Toolkit demonstrates is the engine room of maritime security governance.

When it was first established in 1997, ThaiMECC was intended to be a focal point for tackling Thailand’s maritime insecurities – particularly trafficking and illegal fishing. Bringing together the Royal Thai Navy, Fisheries Department, Marine Department, Customs Department, Maritime and Coastal Environment Department, and the Marine Police, the agency sought to make inter-agency coordination more effective through seminars, exercises and information-sharing.

190904-N-NI298-0067 GULF OF THAILAND (Sep. 04, 2019) U.S. Coast Guard Chief Maritime Enforcement Specialist John Daughters works with a Royal Thai Navy sailor during a joint visit, board, search and seizure training drill with the U.S. Navy aboard a training vessel as part of the first ASEAN-U.S. Maritime Exercise (AUMX). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tristin Barth)

The backbone of ThaiMECC (in both its previous and current incarnation) is the Maritime Information Sharing Centre (MISC). MISC not only gathers and collates information from the different agencies’ information platforms, but also has a staff tasked with analysis, evaluation and dissemination in order to increase Maritime Domain Awareness.

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Growing, yet cautious, optimism – maritime security in the Philippines

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Safeseas Research Associate Scott Edwards recently visited the Philippines and had the opportunity to assess some of the over-arching themes of Philippine maritime security focused upon by security practitioners.

The Philippines faces a large array of security issues, ranging from kidnappings that fund terrorist activities; piracy in an area in which over $40 billion dollars’ worth of cargo flows; trafficking of drugs, weapons and people; cigarette, alcohol and fuel smuggling; and illegal fishing which not only destroys marine habitats but also damages the economy of the Philippines.

At a policy level, however, the government and Navy mainly continues to focus on traditional areas of geopolitics – primarily concerned about China’s overlapping claims in the South of China Sea. This can divert attention from the need to address the wide array of transnational organised crimes at sea that take place in the waters of the Philippines.

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SafeSeas visits NMIC

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In January 2019, SafeSeas’ director Prof. Tim Edmunds, visited the National Maritime Information Centre (NMIC) in Portsdown, UK. NMIC, is one of the most interesting international role models of how to organise Maritime Domain Awareness on a national level. Understanding how its work might be replicated in other regions of the world, is one important part of the answer of how to fight maritime crime.

While hosted by the Royal Navy, NMIC has an interesting governance structure and is not ‘owned’ by any one individual ministry or department. It is a collective resource, shared and funded by a range of government bodies and agencies with interests in the sea. 

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Discussion of Maritime Domain Awareness in Southeast Asia

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One of the core areas work of the SafeSeas’ project TOCAS is Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). Asking how MDA can become a fruitful tool for better law enforcement at sea, the disruption of transnational organised crime as well as increased cooperation, the SafeSeas team is developing a guide. On the 24th of January, SafeSeas Director … Read more

The Galle Dialogue in Sri Lanka

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SafeSeas Director Prof. Christian Bueger participated in the 9th edition of the Galle Dialogue of the Sri Lanka navy. The Galle Dialogue is an important regional forum in the discussion of maritime security and the geo-political dynamics of the Indian Ocean. Prof. Bueger chaired the opening panel which featured presentations from the navies of India, … Read more

SafeSeas attends 21st plenary of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia

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Prof. Christian Bueger attended the 21st plenary of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast (CGPCS) held in the UN Offices in Nairobi in July 2017. Part of the plenary was a meeting of the Working Group on Operations at Sea in which the current piracy situation at sea was discussed but also emerging … Read more

Oceans Beyond Piracy State of Maritime Piracy 2017 Report Launch

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SafeSeas researcher Dr Rupert Alcock attended this OBP report launch event at the Riverside Park Plaza, London, 23 May 2018. The annual report assesses the economic and human costs of maritime piracy in four regions: East Africa, West Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. As testament to the ever growing global interest in piracy and wider maritime security challenges, the event attracted more attendees than all prior launches of its kind to date.

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