Pacific Maritime Security Conference

Tuesday, 12 August 2008

Fred Amoa presenting at the Pacific Maritime Conference in May 2008

The Pacific Maritime Security Conference held in Nadi, Fiji, from 12th to14th May 2008, has been hailed as a beacon of success and the standard for future maritime security meetings in the Pacific Islands region.

The wide ranging nature of matters presented and discussed at the  Conference is evident of the multi-faceted nature of the maritime industry and the security concerns over these issues.

The border management and maritime security discussions proved valuable to law enforcement officials and those front-line and policy staff who are dealing with Immigration, Customs and Biosecurity matters. The experience and knowledge shared would be invaluable in dealing with security matters that have confronted the region in recent times.

The international, regional and national legal regimes were also debated and though much has been implemented, the consensus is that there is still more to be done and national legal regimes should be the focus of these activities. The legal presentation highlighted international security instruments such as the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA) Convention and Protocols, however, it noted that some of the Pacific Islands countries and territories (PICTs) have not implemented these into their national legislations. The shortage of human resources and the slow nature of the Parliamentary schedule have been identified as the main obstacles to promulgating appropriate legislations at the national level.

The Conference also provided excellent coverage of auditing standards and methodologies being used in the Pacific Islands region as well as systems used by the more developed neighbours.

The training programmes and activities have provided the region with excellent well-trained seafarers. These continue to support and supply competent maritime administrators and professionals in the region.

The presence of personnel from the maritime sector of Australia and the United States of America contributed to some sterling debates and sharing of views. It was an opportunity for regional officials to assess and analyse their systems and procedures against the standards of their neighbours.

The reports and presentations on pleasure craft revealed some fascinating statistics in terms of security concerns. Pleasure crafts have criss-crossed the waters of the region but the security threats have not been fully realised and assessed adequately in the past. This is now being addressed by relevant regional agencies such as the Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO) and SPC's Regional Maritime Programme (RMP) through studies and surveys of the movement of pleasure crafts in the region.

With the economic development strategies of PICTs and the employment potential of the cruise liner tourism industry in the region, it was suggested that governments in the region could explore the possibilities of increased visits by cruise liners. This would necessitate investment in port, tourism infrastructures and on-shore facilities for visitors.

The Conference would be an ideal forum to highlight and tackle emerging security concerns both in the maritime sector and the border management area. Although the Conference did not specifically endorse any long term resolutions, it would still be worth exploring future directions and mechanisms for a way forward to addressing security as inter-related with other law and order issues.

Putting funding issues aside, the Conference should be seen as an annual or bi-annual forum for security matters and should be expanded to cover legal, technical, and operational aspects of regional maritime security.