Here are some points that emerged from the discussions between participants during the conference.

A collaborative approach

There is a general and quite positive tendency to seek external collaboration and cooperation at the regional or extra-regional level. Few States have the capacity to develop their own MDA with their national means, so the trend is to coordinate with regional partners and organisations as the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN), the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) or the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) to contribute to a more inclusive and therefore more effective regional security. Building a regional architecture that aims to enhance MDA should benefit all users: countries and maritime actors in and outside the region with a legitimate interest in transparency and stability at sea.

This search for collaborative mechanisms and the recognition of the role of regional organisations or intergovernmental cooperation forums such as RECAAP (Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery) or the Jeddah/Djibouti Code of Conduct have also meant that the many initiatives proposed by the European Union to strengthen regional maritime resilience have been well received. This is particularly true of the EU’s CRIMARIO program and its development of the IORIS maritime information exchange platform, which was launched in 2015 to combat piracy in the Western Indian Ocean. Its regional success has paved the way for the establishment of CRIMARIO II in 2020, adopting a broader concept of maritime security and extending its scope to the whole Indo-Pacific. Similarly, in 2013, the EU financed the MASE program implemented by the IOC in the Western Indian Ocean. The EU is also supporting the operationalisation of the Yaoundé architecture in the Gulf of Guinea area since 2016 with the GOGIN initiative.

The importance of the Blue Economy

Another point is that coastal and Island States in the Indo-Pacific are paying greater attention to managing their areas of maritime jurisdiction and activities within them, meaning taking care of ‘Ocean Governance’. This is due to a better awareness of the economic importance of these areas in link with the emergence of the concept of ‘Blue Economy’ and the need to contribute to the security and the safety of the oceans to benefit from their resources. With the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean as part of a major Sea Line of Communication (SLOC) for trade and commerce and are rich in natural resources, including fish, which need to be developed sustainably, the Blue Economy holds great promise for the all-region.

Apart from the Blue Economy, the growing interest for greater MDA in the Indo-Pacific and beyond reflects the evolving security challenges that the region is facing. One would observe that these new challenges are mainly linked to non-traditional security threats, such as Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated fishing, climate change, marine pollution, and smuggling of all kinds. This is particularly noticeable in the South Pacific.

Rise of maritime Law enforcement forces

A recent trend that one can also observe in the all-region is the development of coastguards and law enforcement forces. The Kenyan Government has recently established its first-ever coastguard to supplement its Navy by patrolling Kenya’s territorial waters and safeguarding marine interests in its Exclusive Economic Zone.

However, many countries do not have coastguards or navies capable of patrolling their territorial seas and vast EEZs effectively or the enforcement and judicial machinery necessary to apply their laws. While this situation exists, there is a substantial risk of increased IUU fishing and maritime criminal activities, as well as growing instability at sea.

However, with increased regulation of activities at sea and more international maritime conventions, maritime law enforcement has become more complex, requiring specialist expertise.

Interconnecting maritime centers

There is also a relative consensus on the fact that cooperation between neighbouring countries is fundamental to the provision of maritime security governance at the regional level. Building this cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is going to be difficult due to the diversity of the region and the lack of a clear common interest – other than protecting and securing the oceans and maritime spaces. Sharing data may be a complex and painful process at the national level, but it is even more challenging when you want to share information with other countries. For a State, achieving an effective MDA requires the sharing of information with other countries because of the interconnected nature of maritime security and the fluidity of the maritime domain.

There are several existing MDA information-sharing arrangements in the Indo-Pacific, including multilateral information-sharing or fusion centres, from the East African coasts to Peru. The achievements of these projects remain limited, and the region is far from having an independent and efficient MDA structure. Through its SHARE.IT initiative, the EU is encouraging a greater regional MDA for all partners. Its strength is to be a software accessible to all that supports regional maritime security architecture that should be interlinked.

Marianne Peron-Doise

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THAI MECC from Thailand, MARINA from the Philippines, the Italian Virtual Regional Maritime Traffic Centre (VRMTC) and the French Maritime Information Cooperation & Awareness Centre (MICA) also participated in the event.

SHARE.IT is the interoperability framework developed by CRIMARIO which is designed to link existing information exchange systems together, thus contributing to enhancing maritime situational awareness, collaboration, and cooperation.

During the four-day event, co-organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Global Maritime Crime Programme (GMCP) and the project, experts presented results of the latest achievements to members and potential partners and the latest technological developments of the SHARE.IT gateway.

The first two days of the conference aimed to bring together IT technicians and junior policymakers to discuss matters of a technical and operational nature while briefing partners on the concepts, challenges, and benefits of SHARE.IT.

It was also the opportunity to present the requirements to enhance the technology and agree to develop a certification system to ensure technical compliance of partners’ developments and the way ahead.

On the following two days, Directors of the Centres convened to discuss policy matters and the way ahead. The EU Special Envoy to the Pacific, H.E. Tibbels, opened the session.

In his remarks, he underlined the significance of the initiative: “The expansion of the SHARE.IT Community is an extremely positive development for the EU, as it demonstrates the EU’s efforts to promote a collaborative and open approach to regional cooperation. Since the Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific was published in September 2021, the EU is stepping up its security engagement with this region, especially in the maritime field.”

Participants agreed to convene in January 2024 to sign a Declaration of Intent related to the new advances of the SHARE.IT initiative, while a technical online meeting will take place in February to prepare the ground for the 4th SHARE.IT Conference (27 – 31 May).

SHARE.IT was consensually considered by partners and guests, as the “missing piece” for Maritime Domain Awareness in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

In her closing remarks, Sara Rezoagli, Acting Ambassador, Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to Thailand, highlighted that: “All participants agree with the importance of enhancing information exchange amongst the maritime community, and a collaborative tool such as SHARE.IT will allow this to be multiplied. The European Union hopes this initiative will continue and will be coupled with the right political will to implement the corresponding national legislative and regulatory frameworks.”

Martin Cauchi-Inglott, CRIMARIO Project Director, closed the conference by stating: “We are proud to have started this important initiative together with UNODC, and I’d like to acknowledge participants for their contribution during the conference. We made good progress in the implementation of the SHARE.IT technological tool, defined to address common threats and challenges together. Thank you for agreeing to embark on this journey with us to build bridges across vast ocean spaces.”

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By far the most problematic source of maritime insecurity for States is the phenomenon of obstacles to the freedom of the seas. I would add that the most commonly cited risks and threats at sea, such as piracy, unreported and unregulated illegal fishing (IUU), maritime terrorism and other criminal activities, are only the by-products of this fundamental issue, which is for states to be able to control their maritime domain but also to ensure free navigation on the seas. 

 Maritime flows and trade lie at the heart of globalisation. However, maritime transport and ports account for 90% of the goods exchanged and we should see an intensification of trade on the seas with the consequences that this implies in the security field. This maritimisation of trade and the weight of the Indo-Pacific have given new importance to the geopolitics of the seas and oceans. 

In your opinion, how can the European Union enhance maritime security in the Indo Pacific region? 

I think the protection of the maritime domain of States and the control of navigation in strategic areas have become priorities for a large number of countries in the Indo-Pacific. This is leading to new sources of tension and maritime insecurity and the search for innovative tools to facilitate better maritime domain awareness  and regional cooperation to improve the exchange of maritime information.

This is an area where the EU can contribute a lot. The EU does not have a navy and its partners do not expect it to be in a combat role. building capacity, strengthening maritime information sharing is what the region needs.

How can coastal states guarantee safe and secure sea lines in the Indo Pacific? 

The sea is a dangerous place that you cannot face alone. Cooperation is a necessity for user states. There are many examples of this. The establishment of co-ordinated patrols in the Malacca Strait in South East Asia, the development of the Djibouti Code of Conduct in the Indian Ocean or the decision to establish a regional fusion centre, the Pacific Fusion Centre in Vanuatu in the South Pacific.

With these initiatives, coastal states not only help to develop a maritime safety regime but also participate in the creation of a maritime community.

How can IORIS and SHARE.IT support national and regional cooperation? 

IORIS is a maritime information exchange and coordination platform, SHARE.IT  is a technical framework to facilitate the flow of information between fusion centres and information sharing centres. I think these are concepts easy to understand, fairly transparent and easy to implement concepts.
These characteristics make them suitable vehicles for developing maritime cooperation at both national and regional levels.

Marianne is associated Research Fellow at the French Institute for International and Strategic Relations (IRIS, Paris). Her research interests include Indo Pacific geopolitical issues with a specific expertise on security and defense policies in Northeast Asia (Japan-Korean Peninsula), maritime security topics. She also teaches classes in Maritime Security at Sciences-po Paris and the Lille Catholic University.  

She is Political Advisor for the EU maritime project CRIMARIO since 2015. 

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SHARE.IT is a framework that will link existing information-exchange systems together and therefore facilitate the exchange of information and data among different Centres, thereby increasing speed of communication in a structured, secure, and sustainable way.

During the four – day conference, organised by CRIMARIO II in close coordination with the UNODC Global Maritime Crime Programme (GMCP), practitioners tested and demonstrated a first prototype, which was developed in the past months based on maritime safety and security at sea scenarios.

This allowed an assessment of how the technology would start being used in the real world: during a simulation scenario which involved a container vessel transporting drug, the information exchange between RMIFC Madagascar, IFC Changi, and IFC Peru proved to be fast, relevant, accurate and secure.

The next conference, which will take place in Asia in the fall, will take SHARE.IT to the next level, developing SOPs, and expand the community to like-minded partners.

SHARE.IT: strengthening the relationship amongst maritime centres and consolidating existing information-exchange systems for the benefit of all stakeholders.

L’article SHARE.IT: a structured, secure, fast means of communication to strengthening maritime security est apparu en premier sur Crimario II.