PhD Enhancing Maritime Security

Coventry University

Maritime threats like piracy and fisheries crimes significantly undermine the global economy and impact on the sustainable development of coastal states. Research conducted at CTPSR, on the relationship between contemporary maritime crimes and the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities has had significant impact both nationally and internationally, in shaping policy and regulation as well as education and training. CTPSR’s Maritime Security team sits within the Security, Vulnerability and Resilience Research Group. The specialised team have led a portfolio of research in the emergent and evolving field of maritime security studies, a new discipline of increasing importance which identifies significant implications for policy, regulatory frameworks, and practice relating to human security, the blue economy and sustainable development. Their corpus of research is built around the following interlinked and complimentary strands: The first strand investigates the inter-relationships within and between contemporary maritime security challenges (such as human trafficking, forced labour and other forms of fisheries crime) in the fishing industry, in Indonesia in particular. This research unveiled three key, ground-breaking findings that advance theoretical and policy-related constructs in this area. First, maritime security challenges were found to transcend traditional territorial disputes and impact negatively on human security. The research highlighted that as a consequence of the unbounded nature of both maritime security and territorial disputes, there was a fundamental need for future policy to be considered and developed from a trans-regional strategic basis. Second, it highlighted the importance of a comprehensive, integrated approach and that the involvement of local community actors is fundamental for developing and implementing efficient maritime policy. Third, the research is the first to identify the inner workings of transnational organised crime within the Indonesian fishing industry and identify ways to combat it. The second strand focuses on how Small Island Developing states (SIDS) understand and conduct maritime security. This research reports two key findings: First, the extent to which SIDS’ sustainability relies on a coherent, thoroughgoing and multi-institutional understanding of contemporary maritime security challenges, and second, the research specifies the need for a comprehensive, strategic, multi-agent, and community based approach to maritime security for SIDS. The third and final strand highlights the importance of local context and incorporating existing forms of knowledge and practice in training capacity building providers and reforming maritime sectors, particularly on the Global South.

Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations