Commentary

The ‘icebreaker-gap’ – how US icebreakers are assigned new, symbolic roles as part of an escalating military competition in the Arctic

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By Lin A. Mortensgaard & Kristian Søby Kristensen, Centre for Military Studies, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen Under construction: “The largest icebreaker in the world” In the high summer of 2020 U.S. President Donald J. Trump suddenly spoke enthusiastically about icebreakers:  we have, under construction right now, the largest icebreaker in the world.  … Read more

What the Nave Andromeda incident tells us about UK maritime security

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Scott Edwards & Tim Edmunds On October 25th at around 10am, just off the coast of the Isle of Wight, seven stowaways turned violent and threatened the crew of the Nave Andromeda, sparking concerns of a hijacking and intervention by the coastguard and police. A three-mile exclusion zone was put into effect around the ship … Read more

Using crime script analysis to better understand piracy manifestations

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By Bryan C. Peters Despite the undeniable social relevance of piracy, criminologist have lagged behind other fields in its study. In 2009, Forsyth, Gisclair and Forsyth aptly noted that, “most criminologists are landlocked…as if crime on the water did not exist”. Although interest is slowly growing within the field, the potential utility of criminological theories … Read more

Why are more small boats crossing the English Channel – and why are border forces struggling to stop them?

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By Tim Edmunds and Scott Edwards The number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats has increased significantly – up to 4,343 this year compared with 857 in the same period last year. The number of lurid headlines calling for action has also increased significantly but the issue is not always well understood. … Read more

Brexit: how the UK is preparing to secure its seas outside the EU

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Scott Edwards and Tim Edmunds recently wrote a short article for The Conversation, drawing upon insights from the SafeSeas Policy Brief ‘Delivering Maritime Security after Brexit: time for a joined-up approach‘. Four dinghies carrying 53 migrants who tried to cross the English Channel from France were intercepted by British and French authorities in early April. … 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