Maritime Security and Deep Seabed beyond National Jurisdiction

Abstract

The deep seabed area beyond national jurisdiction(the Area) raises certain important maritime security issues such as the emplacement of weapons of mass destruction in the Area, prospects of piracy and terrorism against ships engaged in deep seabed mining activities, as well as the challenge that deep seabed mining activities could actually raise issues as regard environmental security. Yet relatively little has been articulated on maritime security and the Area. This chapter seeks to investigate possible maritime security issues that could arise in the Area, engaging with this from what may be considered a rather traditional state-centric maritime security approach, as well as a more non-State centric viewpoint.