Private Maritime Security: A necessity?

The sharp rise in incidents of piracy in South Asia and Southeast Asia is causing worry for governments in the region. A security vacuum has generated heightened concerns over maritime security, and has resulted in Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) moving in to fill the space.

India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has raised India’s concerns about the increasing use of PMSCs or Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel (PCASP) by merchant vessel in regional waters.

“We have flagged our concern at the continued emergence of Private Maritime Security Companies and Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel, and the security implications of the increasing use of PCASP by merchant vessels,” said Swaraj at the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, August 9.

The use of PMSCs has seen an upswing in the last two decades. In 2003-04 the industry was worth $100 billion. According to Carolin Liss, research fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute and the Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University, the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US “triggered the implementation of new security measures affecting waters and ports in Southeast Asia.”

“In fact, with a heightened fear of a major maritime terrorist attack, governments began to look at the world’s oceans with grave concern, resulting in the implementation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS) and other new safety and security regulations in the maritime sector.”

PMSCs based in the US, United Kingdom and the European Union were quick to capitalise on this. They opened regional offices in Southeast Asia and offered a host of services including risk assessment, training of crew, port authority personnel, vessel tracking, armed guards and crisis response.

Southeast Asia: Piracy hub

While piracy in Somalian waters has been highlighted by the international media, in absolute numbers, it is Southeast Asia that forms the world’s hotspot of piracy. According to a report by global issuance firm Allianz, South Asia in 2013 witnessed 26 incidents of piracy while Southeast Asia saw 128, surpassing 89 incidents in Africa.

In the first quarter of 2014, the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported that Indonesia alone accounted for 18 of the 49 attacks worldwide.

Experts say that the narrow 500-mile Strait of Malacca, through which over 50,000 international vessels pass each year, is susceptible to piracy as it has thousands of islets, and outlets for rivers, making it easy for pirates to escape capture. The Straits which connects the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea serves as an important passageway between India and China. It also serves as linkage between Europe, West Asia and ports in East Asia.

Playing up the danger

Sam Bateman, adviser to the Maritime Security Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, argues that PMSCs are, in fact, part of the problem. Bateman referred to media reports of increased piracy in Southeast Asia as alarmist, since these report fails to differentiate between small thefts and major acts of piracy and focus instead on absolute numbers alone. PMSCs, he argues, exaggerate reports about piracy, provide risk assessment, and project themselves as the only means to counter the risk –leading to a perception that PMSCs are a necessity.

Piracy in Southeast Asia, according to IMB reports, involves a high number of “low-level opportunistic thefts, not to be compared with the more serious incidents in Africa”. Similarly, the attacks in India and Bangladesh are also described as “low-level and opportunistic”.

International law

India’s sensitivity to the idea of PMSCs also arises from its experiences in the infamous Enrica Lexie incident, when two Italian marines onboard the private-owned oil tanker Enrica Lexie shot at and killed two fisherman aboard the Indian fishing boat St. Antony. The case, which drew international attention, is still pending final verdict.

International law with regard to PMSCs is ambiguous. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides little clarity about the legal status or protection for PMSCs when performing duties on territorial waters. Both armed non-state escort vessels and private armed onboard outfits are considered as violating the standard practices of the international community, thus making it difficult for PMSCs to be recognised by the state.

If incidents of piracy continue to rise along with trade volume in the region, either the governments need to step up their security engagements or improve legal instruments that allow PMSCs to perform their task better. The rise of private security is an issue that is likely to come up more often during future trade talks. India has voiced its concerns; it is now up to other countries in the region to also take steps to address the issue.

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