ROYAL MALAYSIAN NAVY
#15TO5 TRANSFORMATION PROGRAMME
MARITIME SECURITY CHALLENGES AND FUTURE FORCE LEVEL DEVELOPMENT A variety of factors, many beyond the scope of the maritime arena, will have a substantial effect on maritime security in the future. Most will neither be inherently asymmetrical nor conventional in nature, but will encompass elements of each. These forces are already at work today; indeed, many profoundly affecting the maritime security environment. In the future, some will retain their prominence and others will rise markedly in influence. According to the United Nations, 41 percent of the world’s pirate attacks between 1995 and 2013 took place in the Malacca and Singapore straits
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From a maritime perspective, the sea is a source of prosperity and advancement. It acts as a medium for interaction between local, regional and global communities. Enormous amounts of goods have travelled by sea since time immemorial. There are over 23,000 ships underway everyday transporting about 95% of the world’s commerce and more than half of the world’s population resides within 100 km of a coastline. When maritime security communities speak about Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC) they refer to more than mere shipping routes. SLOC represent access to the renewable resources of the sea such as fishing stocks and natural resources that can be extracted from beneath it. We continue to be dependent on free and open access to the sea for our security and prosperity just as we did centuries ago. The difference is that today the sea has become a dangerous conduit for various actors who see the general lack of security and attention by many coastal states as an opportunity to exploit and impose their will. This trend is expected to continue well into the future. Despite the absence of universally accepted definitions of “Regional Security”, the term in a Southeast Asia context relates to a significant degree to maritime security. Of the 10 ASEAN members, nine are coastal states and they include two of the world’s largest archipelagic states. Their reliance on maritime security was clearly demonstrated in August 2017 during the 50th ASEAN Foreign Minister’s Meeting held in Manila when the joint communiqué emphasized the need for
“...strengthening linkages in maritime cooperation to further promote mutual trust and confidence to ensure security, peace and stability including ensuring the safety and freedom of navigation...” Maritime security in its strictest and most traditional sense refers to protection from military threats via seaborne or naval operations carried out by adversary’s forces with the aim of seizing control over one’s seas. More contemporary and accepted definitions include security from the threat to coastal states or maritime communities from activities at sea such as piracy or armed robbery against ships, seaborne illicit trade or trafficking, intentional and unlawful damage to marine ecosystems or the environment such as discharging pollutants as well as illegal exploitation of maritime resources including those via illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. This gradual but significant shift in strategic priorities - away from a strict interpretation of maritime security as a purely militaristic endeavour will result in ever-increasing pressures on navies to develop the capabilities necessary to address a wider range of security challenges.
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