Events

SafeSeas regularly organises events on maritime security and ocean governance linked to our projects. We largely work in two formats. Symposia are larger events centered on a dedicated theme and usually involve the participation of high level policy makers. Ideaslabs are smaller scale events that intend to explore a particular theme with a limited amount of participants. These may be primarily academic in nature, or involve a mix of analysts and practitioners.

Recent event news

Event summary – North Sea Critical Infrastructure Protection

The 2022 attack on the Nord Stream pipelines brought much needed attention to the vulnerability of maritime infrastructures and their vitality in the digital age and for achieving the goals of the green energy transition. The October 2023 Baltic Connector pipeline incident has given this agenda further impetus. Identifying a ...

Shipping risks: Lessons from Wakashio disaster for island states – Event Summary

The Charles Telfair Centre, in partnership with the University of Copenhagen and the SafeSeas network for maritime security research, hosted a public event on "Shipping Risks: Lessons from the Wakashio for Western Indian Ocean Islands" on Friday, August 18, 2023 in Mauritius. Over 100 guests attended the event, which showcased ...

Event: Shipping risks and the lessons from the Wakashio disaster in Mauritius

Three years have passed since a major environmental emergency unfolded in Mauritius. When the Wakashio grounded on the island's reef, it spilled large quantities of fuel in August 2022. At a public event, held in Mauritius on the 18th of August, we will investigate the lessons from the disaster and ...

Researcher presents at maritime situational awareness meeting hosted by Italian navy

Maritime Situational and Domain Awareness (MDA) is one of the key solutions in the maritime security tool box and one of the core themes of SafeSeas research. Since almost 20 years the Italian navy facilitates one of the most important international mechanisms for MDA, known as the Virtual-Regional Maritime Traffic ...

How to protect critical maritime infrastructures – event summary

By Christian Bueger The attack on the Nord Stream attack has brought much attention to critical maritime infrastructures and their protection. Yet, we are far from a solid understanding of what critical maritime infrastructures are and what kind of protection they need. To contribute to this critical knowledge the ocean ...

Event in Copenhagen: Critical maritime infrastructures – understanding the challenges

The oceans host various important infrastructures. Shipping, routes and ports are vital for global trade. In the subsea it is pipelines supplying oil and gas, electricity cables that are key in the green revolution, and data cables that today's digital connectivity depends on. Yet, in debates on critical infrastructure, the ...

Event – Cabling Africa: Digital connectivity, subsea data cables and their protection

SafeSeas is co-hosting a public event in Cape Town, South Africa on the 23.9. 14.00-16.00. Chaired by Timothy Walker (Institute for Security Studies), the roundtable will feature presentations from key experts and stakeholders, including the Indian Ocean Commission, the African Union and the digital industry. Register here to attend and ...

New report – Seven challenges of protecting subsea cables

In June 2022, SafeSeas co-organized a workshop on subsea data cables as part of our work on this theme. The report summarizing the key findings is now out here. Our key argument is that the new awareness and the growing expansion of the network implies a new era for ...

SafeSeas at UN Ocean Conference

As part of the UN Ocean Conference that is taking place in Lisbon from the 27.6. to 1.7., SafeSeas is co-hosting an expert workshop and a public event that investigates how subsea data cables can be better protected and how synergies with marine conservation goals can be achieved. We have ...

Ideaslab on the new maritime security strategy of the UK

Following up on our work with the UK government on refreshing the maritime security strategy, SafeSeas organized a one day workshop discussing the challenges linked to implementing the strategy. The workshop was organized in partnership with the University of Bristol, the UK Department of Transport and Joint Maritime Security Centre ...

Maritime Security in Ghana: The next steps

Tackling maritime insecurity in order to enhance the blue economy, restore ocean health, but also to strengthen blue justice, continues to be one of the major challenges for today's governments. Much attention is being paid to these ocean challenges in countries across the African continent. For outside observers, Ghana has ...

Event – Trading Waste: The UK Ghana Route and the Illicit E Waste Economy

The Partnership for Conflict, Crime & Security Research, the Centre for Maritime Law & Security, and SafeSeas are hosting a webinar on 'Trading Waste: The UK Ghana Route and the Illicit E Waste Economy'. The event will be held online at 12.00 GMT, on the 20th October. Register here: https://bit.ly/cemlaws3 ...

Event – Securing the Subsea Data Cable Network: Time to rethink?

REGISTER 6th of July, 14.00 (BST) Submarine data cables are the core critical infrastructure of the digital age. 99% of the world’s digital communications transit through the global cable network: Zoom meetings, emails, hotel reservations, flight bookings, financial transactions – they all depend on it. This data does not travel ...

SafeSeas research discussed at major maritime security forums

In the last week, we had the opportunity to feed key research insights from the TOCAS project into a number of policy processes. The first one was a presentation at the EU-China Expert Meeting on Maritime Security, held on the 26th and 27th of May in Bejing, At the meeting ...

Recording – What are the root causes of maritime piracy?

SafeSeas hosted the event 'What are the causes of maritime piracy' on 29th April 2021. Maritime piracy continues to be the most pressing blue crime on the international security agenda. Piracy is a problem of particular concern in the Gulf of Guinea today but remains a significant challenge in the ...

SafeSeas and DCAF join forces to deliver MSSG workshop

Tim Edmunds and Scott Edwards joined the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance to deliver a 3-day workshop on Maritime Security Sector Governance in East Asia. Tim Edmunds presented on 'Introduction to the Maritime Security Sector Governance Concept' and 'Introduction to Maritime Security Sector Reform and International Experiences'. Scott Edwards ...

Maritime Security in Ghana: AMARIS holds project meeting

The AMARIS project, investigating maritime security in Ghana, is one of the corner stone projects of the SafeSeas network. The project is a focused research partnership of 12 researchers interested in studying a paradigmatic national case of maritime security with a focus on the interaction of blue crimes in the ...

Presentation on Maritime Domain Awareness

How does the surveillance of the oceans known as Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) contribute to ocean governance? This was the core question that SafeSeas director Christian Bueger discussed in a recent talk at the MARIPOLDATA Ocean Seminar Series organized by the University of Vienna. Drawing on research on maritime domain ...

Maritime Security Course in Copenhagen gets going

Maritime Security is a growing field within the academic study of international security. Yet, the security challenges at sea, blue crimes and the link between security, safety and blue economy continue to receive relatively little attention in higher education. SafeSeas is striving to change this state of academic sea blindness ...

SafeSeas holds Ideaslab

For a number of years the SafeSeas network has been holding bi-annual events at which ongoing or planned research projects are discussed. These so-called Ideaslabs have the primary purpose to discuss, explore and advance early ideas for maritime security related research. At the winter 2020 ideaslab, held on the 3rd ...