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Four Domains of Maritime Security & Measures Against Terrorist Threats

 Maritime Security is a concept related to the sea and is often associated with four domains according to maritime security experts: Over the years, the shipping industry and maritime commerce have seen a sharp increase in both physical security threats and commercial acts of fraud. Fraudsters are becoming more and more ingenious in their design and execution of schemes, now to include computer hacking and cyber fraud.

The thousands of ships sailing the sea – and shore side support staff - have joined an ever-expanding list of those that can be hacked. A better understanding of normal shipping and trade transactions helps to identify abnormal activities such as the movement of contraband, human trafficking, acts of piracy, and other bad acts– which could be evidence of existing or potential threats.

However, the "old school" methods of fraud remain, such as document fraud. Physical threats such as piracy also are alive and well. Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship-borne attackers upon another ship, typically to steal cargo and other valuable items. The ship and crew are sometimes captured and held for a ransom

. Today, pirates armed with automatic weapons such as assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades use small motorboats to attack and board ships. This tactic takes advantage of the smaller number of crew members on modern cargo ships. The pirates use larger vessels, known as "mother ships", to supply the smaller motorboats. Cybersecurity issues also present massive physical risks to ships, their crew and port facilities.

Maritime security issues affect the way ship owners, charterers, cargo interests, ports, and terminals, and their insurers do business. There is the added the expense to deal with. There has also been an increase in the number of international conventions and domestic legislation geared towards furthering maritime security. For example, the International Ship and Port Security Code (ISPS) is an IMO Convention that establishes an international framework involving cooperation between contracting governments, government agencies, local administrations and the shipping and port industries to detect security threats and take preventive measures against security incidents affecting ships Alternatively, port facilities used in international trade. Bottom line - those involved in shipping need the expertise to ensure compliance, manage costs, and deter threats.

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