Traditional And Non-Traditional Threats Of Maritime Security, mentions an India Times news source.
Maritime security and national security
Maritime security is very important in terms of national security as having the strongest navy against other states makes you more powerful than having a powerful military army and air force. This is because trade through sea route is the largest transportation method. This in turn leads to many threats to maritime security. Threats to maritime security varies from nation to nation. It is a term that encompasses the aspects and issues arising from the oceans surrounding the nation that threatens its national interests.
Traditional threats are the military threats that are faced by a nation from another nation that that has a negative effect on its sovereignty, integrity, trade, etc. Traditional threats affect only the state whereas non-traditional threats affect the state, individual and the entirety of humanity.
Non-traditional threats cover other aspects like terrorism, piracy, natural disaster, drug trafficking, illegal migrants etc,
Non-traditional threats
1. From natural occurrences- natural disasters like wave, tidal surge, coastal erosion, monsoon rain related flooding, high winds which endangers the flora and the infrastructures and climate change. These issues posed as a threat to the people who eventually had to leave the coastal areas for safer place to stay.
2. from non-state actors- These are threats because of evil criminal activities like environmental contamination, drug trafficking, illegal fishing, religious extremism and threat to national security because of terrorism.
3. From military development- This happens because of the government participation in the competition between great powers which garners unwanted attention to the state which poses a threat to the security of the state.
4. From Piracy- The red sea, the Indian subcontinent and the South East Asia are regions which give access to piracy. Because of the threats to the trade ships in the region, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has repeatedly advised the visitors and commercial ships to exercise caution while traveling through the Indian Subcontinent and South East Asia. Examples of frequent routes of piracy are- Straits of Malacca and Singapore which are heavily infected by piracy.
5. From maritime terrorism- During historical times, there was a lack of maritime security which gave access to the terrorist organisations for the sea channels easily. Because of this, there were many incidents of terrorism throughout history. Example- Malabar was invaded in December 1782 via the sea route in the Indian territory between Karnataka and Kerala. Even till this day, Malabar is not entirely protected because covering of the entire border is impossible because of how the island is naturally shaped.
6. From Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing- This is an issue that happens within the territory borders. This is a significant issue because, a huge portion of the population near the sea coast depend on fishing to make their living. Also, because of the illegal fishing, the long-time viability of the occupation is greatly affected. This infringes the rights of the people who follow the law. Overfishing depletes the fish stock and also lowers the profit of the fishermen who depend on fishing for a living. It also affects the environment. Indian ocean faces a serious threat because of IUU.
7. From climate change- Because of the global surface warming, the Indian ocean sea level has risen up to 1.8 degree Celsius which is a 0.8 degree rise from the past century. Because of this, tiny, low-lying islands are at a threat of facing tidal storm surges and coastal erosion. The 2004 tsunami brought the National Disaster Management Center (NDMC).
8. From maritime pollution- Some of the causes for this is shipwrecks, collisions at sea and oil bunkering. These issues cause serious harm to the maritime ecosystem. Oil pollution is inevitable because of the constant use of ships. But, intentional discharge of toxic quantities of oil, trash, cargo, residues, etc can be avoided. This would save the maritime ecosystem.
9. From drug trafficking- Because of drug trafficking and the smuggling of drugs into the countries illegally, many young people abuse and use drugs. In India alone, there are more than 2000 drug cases. This issue was difficult to counter because of the lack of resources to protect the borders. An example of a drug trafficking case is when officials discovered and confiscated more than a ton of hash oil concealed in the depth of 30m in the lagoon close to Dhiffushi island in 2006.
These threats need to be solved so that maritime security does not get threatened and this will also reduce the risk of national security as well.
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Source: India Times
