International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 3
Number 1
March 2009
11
The Present and Expected Changes in Maritime
Safety, Security and Defense Functions
J. Urbanski, W. Morgas & M. Miesikowski
Polish Naval Academy, Gdynia, Poland
1 INTRODUCTION
Each maritime country have to realize three main
maritime functions, these are:
maritime safety;
maritime security;
maritime defence.
Maritime safety is the safety of life and property
at sea from the environmental and operational
threats, as well as the safety of maritime environ-
ment from pollution by the ships. On the national
level the maritime safety is being achieved as the re-
sult of the existing maritime safety legal framework;
operating the global and regional navigational infra-
structure, but mainly as the result of operation of the
highly specialized maritime operational services.
Each maritime country possess not less then 10 dif-
ferent kinds of maritime operational services. Most
important of them are the following:
ships classification, survey, certification and in-
spection services;
aids to navigation service;
hydrography and navigational information ser-
vice;
search and rescue (SAR) service;
marine environment protection service;
combating the environmental pollutions service;
Vessel Traffic Services (VTSs);
ensuring the security of the ships and port facili-
ties service, etc.
The maritime security is the security from the ter-
rorism, piracy and similar threats, as well as effec-
tive interdiction of all the illicit activities on sea such
as pollution of the marine environment; illegal ex-
ploitation of sea resources; illegal immigration;
smuggling the drugs, persons, weapons and other
matters that can be used for terrorist activities. The
maritime security is achieved mainly as the result of
the operation of the proper national maritime ser-
vices such as: Coast Guard, maritime police, Cus-
toms services, Immigration services and some other
[Dyrcz, 2005], [Jones, 2006], [Walczak, 2004].
It should be added that in this paper the term
“Coast Guard” means the national maritime security
service responsible for realization of the maritime
ABSTRACT: In this paper, an attempt has been made to present the subject and state of the three main func-
tions of each maritime country; these are: the maritime safety, maritime security and maritime defense func-
tions. There have been also discussed the subjects of these functions as well as the reasons and process of the
closest and closest cooperation between these functions, and even the merger of these functions in one mari-
time function, i.e. in the maritime safety, security and defense functions Especially quickly proceeds the mer-
ger of the maritime security and maritime defense functions in one maritime function, i.e. in maritime security
and defense function.
12
security function. However, these services only in
the United States and Canada are named as Coast
Guard [www.uscg.mil.]. In the Member States of the
EU, there exist different names of the national mari-
time security services, such as: Border Guard, Mari-
time Police, Maritime and Coast Guard Agency
(MCA) [www.mcga.gov.uk.] and many others. Also
the scope of tasks that realize these services differ
considerably in the each particular Member States of
the EU. The above is the result of the historical tra-
dition of the development of these services. The Eu-
ropean Union considers that the above situation is
not favorable for the closer cooperation of the secu-
rity services of the Member States of the EU. There-
fore, the European Union tries to unify these ser-
vices, i.e. to unify not only their names but also the
scopes of the competences of these services.
[ec.europe.eu/maritime_affairs.]
The maritime defense is the constituting part of
the national military defense. Maritime defense for
the Member States of the EU is the defense of na-
tional territorial integrity; defense of the sea lines of
communication and other national maritime assets;
contribute to the peace and security in the different
world’s areas; and assists the national security ser-
vices in the crisis and distress situations. Ensuring
the maritime defense is the main objective of naval
forces [NSA, 2002]. These forces include the differ-
ent kinds of combat ships and craft, aircraft, as well
as the Autonomous Air Vehicles (UAV) and Auton-
omous Underwater Vehicles (UUV), and others.
In the not distant past the above mentioned func-
tions, i.e. maritime safety, maritime security and
maritime defense functions were realized by the or-
ganizational structures (maritime operational ser-
vices: Coast Guard and Navy) that operated abso-
lutely separately. They, of course, assisted each
other but only in the very difficult situations.
However now, but more precisely, in some last
years, the above mentioned situation began to
change. These changes express themselves in the
new situation of the national maritime services. The
main national operational services, i.e. the Coast
Guard and Navy, have been constrained to cooperate
closer and closer, and even they have begun to real-
ize the tasks that constituted not their own functions.
The most characteristics function in this respect is
the maritime security functions that besides the
Coast Guard or similar services, has begun
to be realized also by the navy and other maritime
operational services.
The main reason, and at the same time the turning
point of the above changes was the outbreak of the
Global War on World Terrorism (SEP of 11
th
, 2001).
The above process of closer and closer coopera-
tion of the main national maritime services did not
cease to exist but it continues to develop and be-
comes more and more important.
Taking the above situation into consideration the
conclusion can be drawn that besides the global
threat of terrorism, there must exist also some other
important reasons that result in the stepwise integra-
tion of the maritime safety, maritime security and
maritime defence functions in a kind of the new su-
per function, i.e. in the integrated function of mari-
time safety, security and defence [Kopacz, 2004],
[Kopacz, 2005], [Kopacz, 2006].
Below, there are presented the following issues:
reasons of the present changes in the main na-
tional maritime functions;
present state of the maritime safety, security and
defence functions;
expected changes in the maritime safety, security
and defence functions.
2 THE REASONS OF THE PRESENT CHANGES
IN THE MAIN NATIONAL MARITIME
FUNCTIONS
The main changes in the maritime safety, security
and defense functions express themselves mainly in
the following situation:
maritime security tasks that in the past were real-
ized by the Coast Guard or similar security ser-
vices, there are being now, in higher and higher
degree, realized also by the two other services,
i.e. by the national operational services and by the
navy,
the tasks of the maritime defence that in the past
were almost exclusively realized by the navy, are
now being realized, in higher and higher degree,
by the other maritime services, i.e. by the national
operational services and by the Coast Guard
(or similar security services), however mainly by
the last ones.
It should be also mentioned that the issues of
maritime safety begin to be the exclusive issues of
national operational services and begin to be also the
issues of two other main maritime services, i.e.
Coast Guard and Navy. It is the result of the perma-
nent growth of danger of pollution of marine envi-
ronment by the ships, and the necessity of preven-
tion such pollution, as well as combating the
consequences of pollutions if they occurred.
The main reason of the above mentioned changes
in the maritime safety, security and defense func-
tions is not only the outbreak of the maritime terror-
ism in the world’s dimension. This factor is of
13
course the decisive factor of the changes being now
underway. However, the outbreak of world’s terror-
ism has also in high degree intensified the influence
of many other factors of the present changes in the
main maritime functions. These factors have the
economic, political, military and social character,
and have come into existence long before the out-
break of Global War on World Terrorism. Below we
will try to enumerate the most important factors of
the present changes in maritime safety, security and
defense functions.
Collapse of the Soviet Military Block and coming
into being the multipolar world with its religious,
ethnic, national and other conflicts. The collapse of
this military block resulted also in very considerable
decreasing the probability of the military conflicts
between maritime countries. Decreasing the proba-
bility of outbreak of the military conflicts between
different countries results also from many other rea-
sons that they will be discussed below.
“Further polarization between the world of the
wealth” and the “world of the destitution”. This pro-
cess generates also the very unstable geographical
regions in the respect of maritime security. In these
regions exists very high level of terrorist attacks’
threat, piracy threats as well as threat of ships cap-
turing and their abduction. To the region of very
high security risk belongs now such region as Per-
sian Gulf, Arabian Sea, areas of Indian Ocean off the
Horn of Africa (Somali’s coast). The Gulf of Guinea
(Africa’s West Coast) [Peterson, 2007]. The high
risk of piracy attacks exists also on the approaches to
Malacca Strait and on the South China Sea.
Fast growing the new economic, political, mili-
tary and social world’s regions, such as the Europe-
an Union, China, India and Brazil, very fast change
the world situations that existed before. These new
world’s geographical regions result also in the de-
creasing the role of the United States not only in the
economic aspect but also in the political and military
aspects. The United States are loosing also stepwise
their role as the world’s military and sea power.
The further fast process of globalization express
itself also in the very fast growing the international
commerce, and in transportation by sea. The world
economy is tightly interconnected. Over the past
four decades, total sea borne trade has more than
quadrupled. 90% of the world trade and two-thirds
of its petroleum are transported by sea. The sea-
lanes and supporting shore infrastructure are the life-
lines of the modern global economy. They are visi-
ble but very vulnerable symbols of the modern dis-
tribution strategy [www.navy.mil/maritime/
Maritime_Strategy].
Process of climate change results also in the eco-
logical and social disasters. Hence, the necessity of
development crisis response capabilities to response
to these kinds of maritime calamities.
Very fast progress of science and technologies,
especially in such technologies as global positioning
and global communication technologies and many
other information technologies, is very favorable for
ensuring the maritime safety and security but it also
facilitates the terrorist activities. This progress facili-
tates also proliferation of nuclear weapon as well as
other kinds of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
that can become also the weapons of terrorists.
3 PRESENT STATE OF THE MARITIME
SAFETY, SECURITY AND DEFENSE
FUNCTIONS
For the Member States of the European Union the
main criterion of the distribution of the areas of real-
ization of the maritime safety, security and defense
functions between the main maritime services, con-
stitutes the geographical location of the realization
areas towards the own coast:
in the areas close to the own coast, the functions
of the maritime security and maritime defence
have been realized by the Coast Guard and other
security services, and Navy;
in the areas located far from the own coast, the
functions of the maritime security and maritime
defence have been realized by the naval forces,
mainly in the form of the maritime security op-
erations (cf. CTF 150) [en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Maritime_Security_Operations],
[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Task_Force_150
].
However, as it was already mentioned, the above
principle regards mainly the maritime countries of
EU and maritime countries being the members of
NATO. However, it can be also assumed that the
above principle regard also the United States and
their main maritime forces, i.e. Marine Corps, Navy
and Coast Guard [www.navy.mil/maritime/Maritime
_Strategy].
The maritime safety function in European Union
and in its Member States is being realized on the
three levels of maritime safety management
[Kopacz, 2001], [Kopacz, 2006]:
the first and the highest level of management
constitutes the International Maritime Organiza-
tion. It creates the legal and operational basis for
maritime safety and security of the whole ship-
ping industry;
14
the middle level of maritime safety management
constitutes the Vessel Traffic Monitoring and In-
formation System (VTMIS) of the European Un-
ion. Main objective of such System is to consid-
erably increase the maritime environment
protection from pollution by ships and enhance
the level of maritime security on the sea areas of
the European Union [Urbański, 2007];
the lowest, i.e. the national level of maritime safe-
ty management constitutes the network of the
maritime operational services.
In Figure 1, there are shown the institution, legal
instruments, systems and services that realize the
maritime safety function.
Legal Instruments
of the Maritime Safety and Security
Management (International Maritime
Conventions, etc.)
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
and co-operative and consultative organizations
- International Maritime Systems and Services,
- Regional Maritime Systems and Services,
- Maritime Operational Services.
Maritime Environment of the Shipping industry
(geographic, legal and operational)
Figure 1. Institutions, legal instruments, systems and services
of the maritime safety function.
The maritime security function is not the new
main maritime function. However, the importance of
this function, i.e. the amount of its tasks and the sig-
nificance of these tasks of this function have grown
incomparable after the 11
th
of SEP, 2001. This func-
tion, as was already mentioned, is being realized
now by all the three main maritime services, i.e. by
the maritime operational services, Coast Guard and
Navies. There exist two main kinds of geographical
areas in which this function is being realized. First
kinds of areas constitute the maritime areas of each
Member State of the EU. The second kinds of areas
are the far-away areas where exist very high risk for
maritime security. In the first kind of maritime areas
the maritime security function is being realized by
the Coast Guards and Navies of the Member States
of the EU. In the second kind of areas the maritime
security function is being realized mainly by the na-
vies of maritime states operating in these areas,
mainly in the form of Maritime Security Operations
conducted by the maritime NATO forces or the EU
forces.
It should be added that in the relation to the ship-
ping industry the maritime security function consti-
tutes together with maritime safety function one
compound function, i.e. the maritime safety and se-
curity function of the shipping industry. In Figure 2,
there are shown the main means and ways of the re-
alization of the compound maritime safety and secu-
rity function of shipping industry on the maritime
areas of the European Union.
MARITIME SECURITY
OPERATION
Tasks:
- Ensure the proper level of maritime security of the Southern flank of the European
Union
EUROPEAN UNION
1. INTERNATIONAL AND
NATIONAL MARITIME
SAFETY AND SECURITY
SYSTEMS
Tasks:
Ensuring the maritime safety and security of
the shipping industry
2. VTMIS/ENMS
Tasks:
- enhance the protection of marine
environment of EU from pollution
- ensure the proper level of
maritime security, understood in
the widest meaning of this notion
AFRICA
Figure 2. The main means and ways of realization of the com-
pound maritime safety and security function on the maritime
areas of the European Union.
The United States “National Strategy for Home-
land Security” (July 2002) [www.whitehouse.gov
/homeland/book] in the following way defines the
Critical Mission Areas of this function:
intelligence and warning;
border and transportation security;
domestic counterterrorism;
protecting critical infrastructure and key assets;
defending against catastrophic threats;
emergency preparedness and response.
The above critical mission areas of the maritime
security function have the general character and
therefore they fully regard all Member States of the
European Union.
The United States “National Strategy for Mari-
time Security” (September 2005)
[www.dhs.gov/xlibrary
/assets/HSDD13_Maritime_Security_Strategy] de-
fines the following threats for this security:
national-state threats;
terrorist threats;
15
transnational criminal and piracy threats;
environmental destruction;
illegal seaborne immigration.
The United States “A Cooperative Strategy for
21
st
Century Seapower” (October 2007) is the com-
mon strategy of all the three maritime military ser-
vices, i.e. Maritime Corps, Navy and Coast Guard
[www.navy.mil/maritime/Maritime_Strategy]. This
strategy defines 6 core capabilities. Two of these ca-
pabilities, i.e. 5
th
and 6
th
can be considered as the
core capabilities that concern the maritime security,
they are:
maritime security;
humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
The maritime security capability is defined as the
creation and maintenance of security at sea is essen-
tial to mitigate the threats short of war, including pi-
racy, terrorism, weapons proliferation, drug traffick-
ing, and other illicit activities. Counteracting these
irregular and transnational threats protects the home-
land security, enhances global stability and secures
freedom of navigation for the benefits of all nations.
The maritime defence function, as was stated
above, is being now closer and closer integrated with
the maritime security function, but these two func-
tions penetrate also each other and begin to create
one function, i.e. maritime security and defence
function.
The subject of the maritime defence function, in
relation to the maritime Member States of the Euro-
pean Union and the NATO had been already pre-
sented and discussed above. Therefore, we want and
will try to discuss shortly the subject of, also already
mentioned, the new maritime strategy, i.e. “A Coop-
erative Strategy for the 21st Century Seapower”
[www.navy.mil/maritime/Maritime_Strategy]. It is
the strategy of all three maritime military services of
the United States.
From the substance and content of this strategy
can be concluded that this Strategy is not only the
maritime strategy of the United States’ Seapower but
also the strategy of all the political and military part-
ners of the USA. This Strategy defines, as was men-
tioned, 6 core capabilities that comprise the essence
of the US maritime power and reflects an increase
in emphasis on these activities that prevent war and
build partnerships. There are defined 6 following
capabilities of the US Seapower:
forward presence;
deterrence;
sea control;
power projection;
maritime security;
humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
The last two core capabilities have been already
discussed. Therefore below, we will try to discuss
the first 4 core capabilities of the US Seapower.
The above first 4 core capabilities are in the reali-
ty 4 maritime military strategies, i.e. the navy opera-
tional concepts. Two of these strategies existed al-
ready in the past (2
nd
and 3
rd
). However, two other
strategies (1
st
and 4
th
) are considerable new. The
strategies are forward presence (1
st
) and power pro-
jection (4
th
) have been formulated and applied by the
US Navy and Marine Corps in the last 16 years. Ini-
tially these strategies were called as:... From the
Sea” (1992) and “Forward ... from the Sea” (1994).
The “Deterrence” strategy (2
nd
core capability)
was formulated and applied during the cold war. It
was especially relevant with regard to the use of nu-
clear weapons. Now, the concept of “Deterrence”
strategy express the truth but mainly the US military
policy that “preventing the war is preferable to
fighting wars”. The “Sea Control” strategy (the 3
rd
core capability) that very often is also called “Com-
mand of the Sea” strategy is one of the oldest mari-
time strategies. It was formulated and applied al-
ready during the age of the sail.
The presented all the 4 core capabilities of the
Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard, together with
2 other core capabilities discussed before (“maritime
security” and “humanitarian assistance and disaster
response”) constitute the essence of the US
“A Cooperative Strategy for 21
st
Century Seapow-
er”.
4 EXPECTED CHANGES IN THE MARITIME
SAFETY, SECURITY AND DEFENSE
FUNCTIONS
In the above two sections of this paper there have
been presented the realization of the maritime safety,
security and defense functions in national, regional
and international dimension. Also the threats being
the subjects of the activities constituting these func-
tions have had mainly the economic, political, mili-
tary and social character. However, it is evident that
in 21
st
century, besides of the above threats, there are
more and more frequently expected other kinds of
threats, i.e. natural and other threats that have the
global character. Such threats are called the “global
calamities”. The natural calamities constitute also
the component part of the global calamities. There
have been commonly agreed that the following ca-
lamities are considered as the global calamities
[www.unitedcats.worldpress.com/2007/10/11/ten_gl
obal _calamities]:
terrorism;
climate changes;
16
emergent diseases (some contentious forms of in-
curable virus diseases);
wars;
volcanic eruptions;
asteroid/planet – death from the above;
methane release (from the continental shelves);
doomsday devices (nuclear, chemical, biological,
etc.);
strange matter experiments (that can result in
global catastrophe);
aliens (creatures from the outer space).
As the natural calamities are considered the fol-
lowing [http://wiki.answears.com/Q/what_are_the
_natural_calamities]:
earth quakes;
floods;
famine;
volcanic eruptions;
landslides;
fires;
hurricanes;
tornados;
ice storms, etc.
The natural calamities are not the new events.
They were known since ever. However, the frequen-
cy and intensity of these calamities are becoming
now higher and higher. That is the result of the cli-
mate change. To the global calamities that are man-
ageable, i.e. that might be prevented or whose results
might be mitigated, belong the first four global ca-
lamities; these are:
terrorism;
climate change;
emergent diseases;
wars.
Among the global calamities the most dangerous
for our planet Earth and for humans’ existence on
it, is the climate change. The climate changes, but
especially the permanent increase of the tempera-
ture, i.e. the global warming, result in the following:
melting glaciers and land ice (and therefore, in
thermal expansion of the water);
sea level rise;
changes in the rainfall and evaporation;
increasing the intensity of natural processes, es-
pecially geomorphological processes in the
coastal zone, and others.
Preventing the climate change and other global
and natural calamities but also economic and social
calamities (and mitigating their harmful influence,
are tried to be achieved, in global dimension, in the
following ways [Sachs, 2005], [Sachs, 2008],
[www.un.org/genonto/bp/enviro.html]:
reduction of the emission of the Greenhouse Gas-
es (GHG), mainly CO2;
combating the extreme poverty and civilization
backwardness;
protection of the environment (land and mari-
time) from pollution;
protecting the biodiversity (land and maritime);
ensuring the sustainable economic, development,
and others.
Taking the above facts into consideration we can
draw the following conclusions regarding the ex-
pected changes in maritime safety, security and de-
fence functions:
there exists almost the certainty to assume that
such global calamities as terrorism and climate
change’s effects will be growing permanently and
will constitute the main dangers and threats that
must be prevented, avoided and mitigated by the
maritime safety, security and defence functions;
the maritime security activities and measures will
in higher and higher degree constitute the essence
not only maritime security function but also mari-
time safety and maritime defence functions;
the permanently growing dangers and threats, be-
ing the effects of the expected natural and global
calamities will and must result in the situation
that the crisis/calamities response readiness and
its efficiency will constitute the main component
not only of the maritime security function but al-
so the maritime safety and maritime defense func-
tions.
5 CONCLUSIONS
This paper has been presented the main issues of the
functions of maritime safety, security and defense of
today and tomorrow. The authors tried to show the
main issues constituting the subject and contents of
these functions not only today but also in the nearest
future. They tried also to show the state of realiza-
tion of these functions both in the European Union
and in the USA. There has been also undertaken the
efforts to present the most probably changes’ rea-
sons that could influence the realization of these
functions and could modify the substance and main
tasks of the discussed functions.
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