Security Spheres: A Phenomenology Of Maritime Spatial Prac-
argument that dimensions of depth and height are integral to
tices / Barry Ryan
the security of space, and that circulation is therefore not ‘contained, controlled and regulated, on a plane’.
The three dimensionality of maritime planning relates to the
By being able to claim a capacity to regulate competing interests
way it layers ocean space so that multiple uses can be assigned
and claims on space, maritime governance boasts inclusivity, a
simultaneously to the seabed, the sea column and the sea sur-
scientific rationale and an environmental imperative.
face. The rationale is that individual economic sectors of the
Globalization shaping space through new procedures that create
sea are interdependent and rely upon common skills and in-
‘synchronous world routines’ (Sloterdijk 2012: 172).
frastructure. These sectors include coastal tourism, offshore
the freedom of the sea gradually being refashioned to reflect the
oil and gas, deep sea fishing, short sea shipping, yachting and
hierarchy of values and differentiated rights of access that de-
marinas, passenger ferry services, cruise tourism, fisheries, in-
fines our urban landscapes and critical infrastructures (Graham
land water transport, coastal protection, offshore wind farms,
2010)
state monitoring and surveillance activities, military training, blue biotechnology, desalination, aggregates mining, marine
Zonal Security and the Sea
aquatic products, marine mineral mining and ocean renewable
Sea not as a void but as a ‘resource-rich but fragile space requir-
energies.
ing rational management for sustainable development.
The multi-dimensional nature of zonation thus challenges us
With the emergence of zoning, the two-dimensional lines de-
to revisit Braudel’s (1972) route-based imaginary of the ocean.
marcating the swiftest and safest routes no longer move things
In fact, contemporary maritime security aims to routinize the
and people through empty blue space: they now pass through
use of the sea in a manner that supports Elden’s (2009; 2013: 49)
three-dimensional, multifunctional security zones. By cordon153