Maritime security under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

Abstract

As over 90 percent of international trade is carried by sea, the global economy is increasingly dependent on the efficacy of the shipping industry. The protection and security of such a lucrative industry is vital. In this respect, international maritime security law plays an important role and has become a major focus for international action. International maritime security law is concerned with maintaining order at sea as well as promoting international peace and security. Intimately linked with the preservation of the order of the oceans is the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Maritime security was also an important consideration taken into account by the drafters of UNCLOS, whose intention was that the Convention ‘‘promote the peaceful uses of the seas and oceans’’ Indeed many of the provisions contained in UNCLOS have had significant maritime security ramifications. The scope of this study is to outline the seven major maritime security threats as identified by Mr. Ban Kimoon, Secretary General of the United Nations, and examine to what extent, if at all UNCLOS deals with each of these threats. Although it has been observed that UNCLOS provides a foundation for an efficient maritime security regime, it is not without its limitations. UNCLOS was drafted over 30 years ago and as result a number of current maritime security threats remain unregulated by the Convention. This study will therefore also examine the significance of other international maritime security legal instruments which may either compliment the relevant provisions of UNCLOS or which help overcome various lacunae in the Convention. The first part of this study will discuss the nature of the term ‘‘maritime security’’ and will outline the seven major maritime security threats. It will then attempt to trace the development and drafting of UNCLOS, with particular reference to the various maritime zones under UNCLOS and their relevance to maritime security issues. The second part of this study offers a concise discussion on piracy and armed robbery against ships. The part will analyse the UNCLOS framework for the suppression of these crimes and whether these provisions are at all sufficient to deal with threats posed by modern day piracy. The third part of the study will discuss maritime terrorism, which has emerged as a powerful threat to the safety of navigation. Due to the absence of direct provisions in UNCLOS dealing specifically with maritime terrorism, focus will be placed on other international instruments which were promulgated to deal with this problem. The fourth part will examine how UNCLOS addresses, if at all, the threats posed by the illicit trafficking and smuggling of arms and weapons of mass destruction, drugs and psychotropic substances, and persons. The fifth part of this study will discuss a modern maritime security threat of illegal unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU Fishing) and review the UNCLOS provisions dealing with the conservation of living resources. Although UNCLOS provides for coastal States to take action against IUU fishing within their territorial sea and EEZ, this is not the case on the high seas. Part 6 will examine another modern maritime security threat - that of intentional and unlawful damage to the environment. This part will outline the UNCLOS Part XII provisions governing the protection and preservation of the environment along with the enforcements measures allowed by coastal States to prevent environmental damage. Finally, on the basis of the findings in previous parts, the study will present general conclusions.