Define terrorism
There are different definitions for the term terrorism, they are categorised into an international definition, a domestic defintion, maritime defintiion, cyber terrorism and even the term ‘acts of terrorism’ - the OECD even created a list of how the OECD coutries define them, and
many academics curate the definition differently, however terrorism in all categories can be comprehensively described using the Britannica definition:
Terrorism, the calculated use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective.
What are the characteristics of terrorism?
- Principle driver is to fulfil an
ideological/political purpose; - Terrorist planners will observe
criminal activities to expose
weaknesses they can exploit for their
own motifs (funding/ideological). - Media exposure, to further the
terrorists ideological aims important
and now (smart phone video &
“Youtube” style websites) much
easier.
What is maritime terrorism?
“the undertaking of terrorist acts and activities within the maritime
environment, using or against vessels or fixed platforms at sea or in
port, against coastal facilities or settlements, including tourist resorts,
port areas and port towns or cities”
Council for Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific Working Group
“nautical terrorist attacks could also play out in the form of possible
environmental or economic damage inflicted on coastal towns or ports
via chemical or biological weapons.”
What are recent examples of maritime terrorism?
The situation in the Red Sea:
the Biden administration condemned Yemen’s Houthi rebels in strong terms for continuing to attack merchant shipping in the Red Sea. Houthi missiles and suicide drones have made the strategic waterway unattractive for most of the best-known names in shipping, and virtually all east-west container ship traffic has rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope.
“The Houthis are behaving like a terrorist organization – attacking civilians, civilian shipping, and innocent mariners,” said the State Department in a statement. “They continue to detain the crew of the Galaxy Leader, consisting of 25 people from five different countries. This is piracy.”
Stowaways being potential terrorists:
https://maritime-executive.com/article/italy-denies-docking-to-cargo-ship-with-possible-terrorist-stowaways
Define Piracy
Article 101 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) determines that Piracy consists of any of the following acts:
(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;
(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).
Difference between Piracy and Armed Robbery
The act is referred to as ‘piracy’ when it occurred in international waters or outside the jurisdiction of any state,
whereas it is called ‘armed robbery at sea’ when it occurred inside territorial waters or internal waters.
Why Did So Many Nations Join Forces to Fight Somali Piracy?
https://maritime-executive.com/editorials/how-did-nations-and-shipowners-join-forces-to-halt-somali-piracy
why is it hard to define terrorism?
one man’s terrorist is another man’s hero.
Defining terrorism has been tough for the global community because some countries disagree on what actions should be labeled as terrorism. This includes debates about whether a country’s actions can be considered terrorism and whether groups fighting for freedom should be called terrorists if they use violence to reach their goals.
What factor contribute to the effective operation of a terrorist group at sea?
- Legal and jurisdictional weakness [EEZ & High Seas]; because the way UNCLOS is written, much of the sea is ungoverned compared to land
- Geographical necessity/opportunity; the specific places were ships pass
- Inadequate security [reducing navies – providing freedom of
manoeuvre]; e.x suez canal, Gulf of Guinea - Secure base areas;
- Maritime tradition [fishermen/smugglers/pirates etc];
- Charismatic and effective leadership;
- State support [one man terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter];
Give examples of past maritime terrorist incidents
- The Santa Maria, a cruise liner taken a team of 24 Iberian terrorists off the coast of Venezuela on 23 January 1961 in the so-called Operation DULCINEA against the Portuguese government
- The Achille Lauro, a cruise liner taken over in 1985 by 4 Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) terrorists in the Mediterranean when surprised by a crew member. One wheelchair bound US passenger was murdered. Terrorists disembarked at Port Said.
-> connect this to the establishedment of the SUA Convention - Sri Lanka Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) 1983 -2009
Known as the “Sea Tigers”, they mounted an effective and brutal insurgency campaign against Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) in support of a landward insurgency constituting a Civil War.
* LTTE probably the only insurgent
movement with a fully -fledged maritime strategy.
* Adopted swarming and suicide tactics sinking more than 20 SLN vessels.
* Established a coordinated logistics
infrastructure to support activities.
* Forced SLN to re-evaluate strategy,
doctrine and tactics to overcome Sea
Tigers.
- In October 2002 The MV Limburg, an oil tanker carrying almost 400K barrels crude, off the coast of Yemen, was attacked by an Al Qaeda terrorist in a small boat with a Waterborne Improvised Explosive Device (WBIED) detonated on the starboard side, almost 90K barrels of crude leaked into the sea.
- In November 2008, 10 members of a Pakistani Al Qaeda terrorists carried out a very well planned and coordinated “amphibious raid” on 12 targets in the port city of Mumbai lasting 4 days, killing more than 160 people and injuring over 300, having exploited the weakness of the maritime element of port security measures.
What is the ISPS Code?
- ISPS Code is specifically designed to describe “measures and procedures to prevent acts of terrorism which threaten the security of passengers and crew and the safety of ships”
ISPS Code is in two parts;
* Part A is linked with SOLAS Chapter XI-2 making it mandatory for all ports accepting ships of more than 500GT
from ports of other countries;
- Part B provides guidelines for further implementation of parts of the code and is not mandatory (the EU have made Part B mandatory for all European Community ports);
- However, in ports the code only applies to the “ship/port interface” [interactions that occur when
a ship is directly and immediately affected by actions involving the movement of persons, goods
or the provisions of port services to the ship] (SOLAS Ch XI-2, Definitions), but not the rest of the port. - ISPS Code was drafted 2002, adopted 2004 and with the significant changes across the global maritime industry is now probably out of date.
- ISPS Code was drafted in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks; looked upon by some as
an “American abuse of power.” since the time wasn’t taken to look at other crimes committed before that in ports.
How are terrorist groups formed?
Volatile geopolitics is the fuel for the creation of ideologically motivated groups to become established, gain popularity (social media etc) and thereby agitation and momentum towards activism leading to a growth in terrorism.
e.x: the Gaza situation
- Increasing number of commercial ships = targets/revenue streams;
- Cruise Liners (capacity of 678K passengers at any one time, planned 7 new ships, with average annual capacity increase of >20K for
next 6 years) - Ports (5,250 commercial ports globally) processing >11bn tons of cargo (around 885 million TEU moves in 2022, with a 6.3% growth in 2023 and 8.1% in 2024 predicted growth = >1,000million/1bn TEU movements pa – UNCTAD RMT 2023) and volume of cargo moving through with increasingly limited time and resources to monitor throughput.
- Number of fishing vessels
- Cyber attacks could be a “force multiplier” for terrorist groups;
- Use of social media to publicise terrorist acts without contextual comment potentially makes the footage more potent.
What are the challenges when it comes to terrorism and the public?
- The general public are “sea blind” and have short memories, they don’t
perceive there being any form of terrorist threat from the sea. - Maritime terrorism also often fails the “immediacy and proximity” test of
the commercial media against competing stories of more noteworthy relevance. Consequently, terrorist produced coverage is likely to be the first to be released by “Youtube” and go “viral” without context or comment. - In 2007, USCG reported that the maritime domain is “the least governed region left on the earth. Many millions of square miles of ocean……under no man’s jurisdiction”, additionally “its maritime borders are generally less
restricted and are freely accessible”; - Greater restrictions of movement ashore, less naval presence at sea is
providing terrorists (and criminals) with a maritime manoeuvre space they can utilise with impunity. - coming back to the fact that the naval presence is no longer dominating waters
To keep in mind about terrorism:
Definition of terrorism is dependent upon perspective (Syria), one mans terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter;
- The conditions for piracy and terrorism to thrive are similar and often may develop in parallel “one hand washes the other”
- The history of maritime terrorism demonstrates a clear development in capability and ability to take the initiative. According to one national security analyst we have seen a period of the “most audacious” maritime terrorist attacks;
- Countering maritime terrorism is a dynamic continuous process, complacency is our worst enemy;
- If terrorists are not attacking potential targets it may be because they are gaining advantage by its continuation (funds via organised crime for example);
- The unmanaged space of the oceans provides terrorist a maritime manoeuvre space they can exploit.
