International Maritime Security Instruments: Why is the Sea Still Dangerous

Conference: Bournemouth University, Faculty of Business and Law

Publication Date: 01/03/2026

Abstract:

Maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships continue to pose significant challenges to international trade, maritime security, and the safety of navigation despite the existence of established international legal frameworks designed to suppress unlawful acts at sea. This thesis critically examines the effectiveness of international maritime security instruments in addressing contemporary piracy and ensuring safety and security at sea. It explores whether the existing international legal framework, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA Convention), remains adequate for responding to the evolving nature of maritime criminality in the twenty-first century.

The research adopts a mixed methodological approach combining doctrinal legal analysis with an empirical examination of piracy and armed robbery incidents reported between 1984 and 2024. Drawing upon an original piracy incident database compiled from International Maritime Organization (IMO) Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) reports, the study analyses long-term piracy trends and evaluates the practical operation of international maritime security instruments. A comparative case study approach is employed, focusing on Southeast Asia, East Africa (Somalia), and West Africa (Gulf of Guinea), to assess how differing governance environments influence piracy patterns, enforcement outcomes, and the effectiveness of maritime security frameworks.

The findings demonstrate that international maritime security instruments remain necessary but are insufficient as standalone mechanisms for addressing contemporary piracy. While UNCLOS and the SUA Convention provide an essential legal foundation for maritime security governance, their effectiveness is constrained by jurisdictional limitations, inconsistent domestic implementation, varying levels of institutional capacity, and enforcement deficits.

The empirical analysis reveals a significant mismatch between the traditional legal conception of piracy and contemporary operational realities, with the majority of reported maritime attacks occurring within territorial waters rather than on the high seas. The study further demonstrates that piracy is geographically differentiated and evolves in response to changing political, economic, and security conditions. Comparative analysis shows that piracy declined significantly in Southeast Asia through effective regional cooperation and governance mechanisms, whereas piracy in Somalia and the Gulf of Guinea was closely associated with weak governance, institutional fragility, socio-economic marginalisation, and limited enforcement capacity.

The thesis argues that piracy is best understood as a multidimensional governance challenge rather than solely a legal or maritime security problem. It proposes an Integrated Maritime Security Governance Framework that combines legal, operational, institutional, and developmental dimensions of governance as a more effective basis for understanding and addressing maritime insecurity. The research contributes to knowledge by providing a forty-year empirical analysis of global piracy trends, demonstrating the limitations of existing international legal frameworks, and advancing a governance-centred explanation of piracy that bridges international law, maritime security, and governance scholarship.

The thesis concludes that ensuring safety and security at sea requires more than the existence of international legal instruments. Sustainable maritime security depends upon effective domestic implementation, strong governance institutions, regional cooperation, enforcement capacity, and the ability to address the underlying political, economic, and environmental conditions that facilitate maritime criminality. Consequently, future maritime security policies should adopt integrated governance approaches capable of responding to the evolving nature of piracy and maritime insecurity.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/42503/

Source: Manual