Over recent decades, it has been widely recognised that terrorist attacks at sea could result in major casualties and cause significant disruptions to the free flow of international shipping.
After discussing the overlaps and distinctions between piracy and maritime terrorism, this book considers how the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, and other vessel identification and tracking measures in the 1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, would be likely to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks at sea. It explains how the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is less than clear on the powers of states to protect offshore installations, submarine cables and pipelines from interference by terrorists. In light of these uncertainties, it considers how the 2005 Protocol to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Maritime Navigation, the doctrine of necessity and states’ inherent self-defence rights might apply in the maritime security context. A significant contribution of the book is the formulation of the Maritime Terrorism Threat Matrix, which provides a structured framework for examining how maritime terrorism incidents have occurred, and might occur in the future. The book also examines the relevant national maritime security legislation for preventing maritime terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom and in Australia. The book concludes by formulating guidelines for the unilateral interdiction of suspected terrorist vessels in exceptional circumstances, and recommending priorities for governments and international maritime industries to focus on in order to reduce the risk for terrorist attacks at sea.
It will be of interest to those working in the areas of Law and Terrorism, Law of the Sea, Maritime Law and Insurance and International Law.
Author(s): Robin Bowley
Series: Routledge Research in Terrorism and the Law
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 316
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Series
Title
Copyright
Contents
List of figures
List of tables
List of abbreviations
1 Introduction
1.1 Background
1.2 Existing literatures and the question investigated by this book
1.3 Arguments of this book
1.4 Outline of the structure of this book
1.5 Scope of this book
1.6 Methodology, information sources and their reliability
1.7 Significance of this book
2 The threat of contemporary terrorism in the maritime domain
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Overview of the threat of contemporary terrorism at a global level
2.3 Vulnerabilities of the maritime domain to terrorist targeting and utilisation
2.4 High-level overview of trends in maritime terrorist attacks since 1968
2.5 How could contemporary maritime terrorism incidents occur?
2.6 The Maritime Terrorism Threat Matrix
2.7 Criteria for critiquing the prospects for the measures in the international agreements to prevent maritime terrorist attacks
2.8 Conclusion
3 The SOLAS Convention maritime security and ship identification and tracking amendments
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Post-9/11 maritime security amendments to the SOLAS Convention
3.3 Ship identification and tracking measures under Chapter V of the SOLAS Convention
3.4 Conclusion
4 Preventing terrorist targeting of ships
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Preventing vessel-based terrorist attacks on ships
4.3 Preventing terrorist attacks on ships from sources other than vessels
4.4 Conclusion
5 Preventing the offensive utilisations of vessels to perpetrate dangerous or disruptive acts
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Preventing the offensive utilisations of vessels to perpetrate dangerous acts
5.3 Interdiction of suspected terrorist vessels: the LOSC framework
5.4 The SUA treaties
5.5 Preventing the perpetration of disruptive terrorist acts at sea
5.6 Preventing terrorist attacks against offshore installations
5.7 Conclusion
6 National arrangements and proposed exceptional circumstances guidelines for preventing the offensive utilisation of vessels by terrorists
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Best practice recommendations for national maritime security legislation
6.3 The national legal framework in the United Kingdom
6.4 The national legal framework in Australia
6.5 A potential interdiction scenario
6.6 The doctrine of necessity as a possible basis for the interdiction of suspected terrorist vessels in exceptional circumstances
6.7 Self-defence rights under Article 51 of the UN Charter
6.8 Guidelines for the interdiction of suspected terrorist vessels outside of the territorial sea in exceptional circumstances
6.9 Conclusion
7 Conclusion and future recommendations
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Significance and principal findings of this book
7.3 Recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of the international legal framework
7.4 Recommendations for further research
Appendices
Appendix A: Designation terrorist groups by the United Nations and by selected states as at 1 March 2022
Appendix B: Chronology of successful maritime terrorism attacks 1968–2020
Appendix C: Status of international agreements as at 1 March 2022
Bibliography
Index
