Conference on Challenges in Addressing Potential Threats to the Security of Commercial Shipping in South-East Asia
Tuesday 30 May 2023 – Wednesday 31 May 2023
On 30 & 31 May 2023, the Ocean Law and Policy team of the Centre for International Law (CIL) organized a conference on Challenges in Addressing Threats to Commercial Shipping in Southeast Asia. The Conference was an in-person, invitation-only event and was held at Four Points by Sheraton.
The Conference examined the issues of international law and policy arising from three traditional threats and four emerging threats to the security of commercial shipping in Southeast Asia. The traditional threats that were examined were; (1) piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Singapore Strait; (2) the threat of maritime terrorism in Southeast Asia; and (3) cooperation in Southeast Asia under the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative. The emerging threats that were examined were: (1) the threat of attacks on Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS); (2) threats to commercial shipping during an international armed conflict; (3) security and safety issues arising from “dark ships” evading international sanctions; and (4) ASEAN cooperation on maritime cybersecurity.
For each topic, there was a main presentation by either an international expert from abroad or a member of the Ocean Law and Policy team from CIL, followed by comments from two commentators. The floor was then opened for comments and questions from other participants. The moderators, presenters and commentators for each session were from CIL and from leading universities and research centres in the region. For a list of speakers and the agenda, please see here and here.
The Conference was attended by representatives from the shipping industry, academics, officers from Singapore Government agencies, representatives from the diplomatic community and representatives from ReCAAP and the Information Fusion Centre (IFC) at Changi Naval Base. The organizers were especially pleased that representatives from the shipping industry actively participated in the discussions on all topics.
This Conference was part of CIL’s research on the international regulation of shipping under the Maritime Port Authority (MPA)-CIL Oceans Governance Research Programme funded by the Singapore Maritime Institute.
Conference Report on Challenge in Addressing Threats to the Security of Commercial Shipping
Post Event Information
Click here for the Programme and Speakers' Profiles
Shipping is the backbone of the world economy and plays a key role in global trade of goods. Ensuring the safety and security of commercial shipping has been a priority for the international community since the 1980s, when the International Maritime Organization (IMO) began to include security in its agenda after a series of attacks in the territorial waters of states followed by the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro. Protecting commercial shipping from external threats to ensure the uninterrupted trade and navigation is now firmly within the mandate of the IMO, which has adopted several key international instruments and related regulations to enhance the security of commercial shipping.
The protection of the security of commercial shipping is particularly important to Southeast Asia, a distinctly maritime region that includes the major sea lanes of communication between the Indian Ocean and East Asia. Most of Southeast Asian states are major flag states, port states or seafaring states and they have significant interests in mitigating against external threats to commercial shipping.
However, technological developments, rising geopolitical tensions and the outright outbreak of armed conflict continue to pose new threats to the security of commercial shipping in Southeast Asia. To this end, the NUS Centre for International Law (CIL) is organizing the “Conference on Challenges in Addressing Potential Threats to the Security of Commercial Shipping in South-East Asia” to bring together experts to identify and analyse conventional threats to security of commercial shipping, such as piracy, terrorist attacks and transporting weapon of mass destruction as well as emerging threats, namely attacks on autonomous ships, the rise of dark ships to avoid sanctions and navigation rights during an international armed conflict and to recommend the way forward to address these challenges in Southeast Asia.
This Conference is being organized pursuant to the MPA-CIL Oceans Governance Research Programme, which is generously funded by the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI).
This is a by-invitation-only event