Coastal Security - Importance, Threats, Piracy

 Coastal Security Importance

• India is surrounded by ocean on three sides with a vast coastline of 7516 Kms.
• More than 90% of the country's trade by volume occurs through sea;
• with more than 70% of required oil being imported via sea.
• The smuggling of explosives through the Raigad coast in Maharashtra and their use in the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai.
• Significant 26/11 Mumbai terror attack of 2008, where the perpetrators entered the nation through sea route.
• Peninsular coastline of upto 5422 kms, 1200 islands, 2 Million Km² of EEZ and 1.55 million km² of territorial waters.
• Piracy Hotspot – Western Arabian Sea.
• Indo – Pak & Indo – Sri lanka – Fishermen Crisis (52nd Edition).

Maritime Security Threats

1. Maritime terrorism: It is defined as the undertaking of terrorist acts and activities within the maritime environment, using or against vessels or fixed platforms at sea or in port, or against any one of their passengers or personnel, against coastal facilities or settlements, including tourist resorts, port areas and port towns or cities.
2. Piracy and armed robbery: Piracy by definition takes place on the high seas and, therefore, does not fall under the ambit of coastal security. However, in the case of India, the shallow waters of the Sunderbans have been witnessing „acts of violence and detention by gangs of criminals that are akin to piracy.
3. Smuggling and trafficking: Indian coasts have been susceptible to smuggling and trafficking. Gold, electronic goods, narcotics and arms have been smuggled through the sea for a long time.
4. Infiltration, illegal migration and refugee influx: The elaborate security arrangements on land forced the terrorists and illegal migrants to look towards the sea where security measures are comparatively lax, enabling them to move, hide and strike with relative ease.
5. Boat People - Ex: War in Myanmar, People of Myanmar get into boat, which land the boat go, they became refuge of the land. Like boat go to India, Bangladesh even Australia.
6. The straying of fishermen beyond the maritime boundary: The frequent straying of fishermen into neighbouring country waters has not only jeopardised the safety of the fishermen but has also raised national security concerns (as discussed in Indo-Sri Lanka).

Piracy

• The rampant piracy off the coast of Somalia has forcefully reminded security and strategic experts that terror operations could well be outsourced to sea pirates as well.
• A hijacked merchant vessel carrying several thousand tonnes of the inflammable fertilizer ingredient ammonium nitrate could easily be turned into a mega bomb after entering an Indian harbour.
• The movement by sea of large volume of commercial freight and its mandatory movement through maritime choke points, such as the Panama Canal, Suez Canal, Strait of Hormuz, Gibraltar Strait, Strait of Bab-el-Mandab, the Malacca Strait and the Bosporus Strait (Turkish Strait) invite piracy.

• Somalia and the Gulf of Aden: Piracy has been predominant in the seas of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden between 2005 and 2012. There has also been an increasing number of attacks in the Gulf of Guinea.
• The Djibouti Code of Conduct was adopted in 2009 for Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. Due to such efforts Somalia-based piracy has shown a significant decline after its peak in 2011.
• Malacca Strait: This region has a reputation of piracy with most cases reported are 'hit-and-run' robberies of fishing boats and commercial vessels.
• Threat of Convergence between pirates and terrorists – Black hole syndrome. (Sahel Region, increase of Terrorism, so need of money they do Piracy.)

Coastal Security Arrangement

There is a multi-tier arrangement for protection and maritime security of the country involving the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Police of the coastal States and Union Territories.

1. The surveillance on the high seas is carried out along the limits of EEZ (exclusive economic zone) by the Navy and the Coast Guard.
2. In the territorial waters, the Coast Guards protect the Indian interests with vessels and through aerial surveillance.
3. Close coastal patrolling is done by State Marine Police.

The State’s jurisdiction extends up to 12 nautical miles in the shallow territorial waters

If continent shell is more than 200nm in sea, country can claim EEZ more than 200 nm.

Indian seeking to extend its EEZ to 350 miles.

• Italian Marine Case – UNCLOS.