No single country is seen as being able to secure the maritime domain alone. Collaboration and information sharing with partner nations can help to detect, identify, track, and interdict nearly all vessels approaching coastal areas. Space systems utilisation and information sharing are the right steps.

The maritime domain is the lifeblood of the global economy handling approximately 90% of the world’s trade. World-wide maritime activity includes more than 30,000 ocean-going ships of 10,000 gross tons or greater, most of which are underway at any given time and operated by over 150 different national flags.

The world’s economic engine has evolved into a finely tuned just-in-time delivery. It is no longer efficient or economical for businesses to invest in on-hand inventories of goods and materials due to the vastly increased efficiency and dependability of the modern intermodal Global Supply Chain (GSC). However, these advances in shipping technology and reliability have also resulted in economic vulnerability borne of a lack of resiliency to any long-term disruption of supplies and goods including oil and natural gas.

… Cung Vu is a Visiting Senior Fellow of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He was an Associate Director of the Office of Naval Research Global and Chief Science and Technology Adviser of the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office, US Department of the Navy.