Policing the Sea Is a Job for Everyone

Global trade would be one of the victims of a terrorist attack on seaborne commerce. This and other points were made by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister TONY TAN at the Asia Security Conference on Sunday. These are excerpts from his speech.

BEFORE the tragic events of Sept 11, seaborne threats generally took the more traditional form of piracy. Indeed, the 1990s saw a fairly sharp rise in the number of cases of piracy around the world. Our regional waters were no exception.

Although many of the reported cases were petty theft, some were more sophisticated operations linked to criminal syndicates. South-east Asian states have taken action to combat piracy, with some success, but more can be done.

However, there is a more terrible dimension of maritime security which all of us have become only too familiar with in the past few years - starting with the attack on the USS Cole, then the tanker Limburg, two years later.

We know now that Al-Qaeda and regional terrorist groups had plans to strike maritime targets across the region.

When we cracked down on the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network in Singapore last year, we discovered that it had made preliminary plans to conduct suicide attacks on United States military vessels entering the harbour.

These had been put on hold as the Singapore JI members lacked the operational capability to launch the attack. Thankfully, we were able to disrupt the network before they could.

Sept 11 unleashed a brand of terrorism that is strategic in intent, devastating in impact, and global in reach. Unlike pirates and criminal syndicates who are driven by greed, terrorists are driven by a violent ideology that seeks to make grand political statements through destructive acts.

Sea lanes and seaborne commerce are attractive targets. They are the lifelines of the international economy and symbols of the globalised system that the terrorists want to repudiate.

Disruption of seaborne commerce would have serious strategic and economic implications for the whole world.

Some security analysts have warned that, with the hardening of land and aviation targets, the threat of terrorism is likely to shift to maritime targets, particularly commercial shipping.

STAYING A STEP AHEAD

AS A maritime nation and the world's busiest transshipment port, Singapore views the regional piracy situation and the possibility of maritime terrorism in regional waters very seriously.

We have spared no effort to ensure the security of our waters and our ports, and have managed to maintain an incident-free record in our waters since 1990.

Since Sept 11, we have been on heightened vigilance against all terrorist threats. On sea, we have increased patrols by the Navy and Police Coast Guard, and enhanced the surveillance of high-risk areas. We have taken an integrated approach to our maritime security, and tightened the linkages between all national maritime agencies.

To ensure that we stay one step ahead of the threat, we have formed an inter-agency Navy-led Maritime and Port Security Working Group, to regularly and comprehensively review our maritime security measures in relation to the changing security environment.

But individual state action is not enough. The oceans are indivisible and maritime security threats do not respect boundaries. The very nature of commercial shipping is multinational.

A ship could be owned by a company in one country, flagged by a second, crewed by nationals of a third, and be carrying the cargoes of a fourth through the territorial waters of a fifth, to the port of a sixth country.

To effectively address threats to maritime security, cooperation among the multiple stakeholders is key.

Within the region, the strength of existing bilateral cooperation against piracy is encouraging. Our coordinated patrols with Indonesia, initiated in 1992, have reduced drastically incidences of sea robbery within their area of operation. The maritime security initiatives that have emerged at various international and regional forums are also positive signs.

Among these are the recent amendments to the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum's maritime transport security proposals, the planned Asean Regional Forum statement on Cooperation On Piracy And Other Threats To Maritime Security, and Asean's transnational crime initiatives. But we will need to work together to shape these initiatives into an effective and inclusive network of interlocking arrangements.

JOIN HANDS TO WIN

IN CONCLUSION, let me offer three suggestions on how regional states and extra-regional stakeholders can address together the challenges of maritime security in a post-Sept 11 environment.

First, we need a firm commitment to closer international cooperation on maritime security issues. As a start we could work on improving coordination in basic areas like information exchange and capacity building.

Second, we should try to build on existing or emerging regional anti-piracy frameworks. We have been dealing with piracy for some time, and there are methods and tactics associated with terrorism which we can identify, and put in place preventive measures.

Finally, we have to consider an integrated multidimensional approach to the problem of maritime security. It is necessary to work across traditional agency boundaries.

Security agencies, enforcement agencies, port authorities and industry all have important roles to play. States do not have all the answers in the new security environment, so it is important to work closely with the shipping industry and relevant international organisations, like the IMO.