“Troubled Waters: Energy Security as a Maritime Security - PowerPoint Presentation

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“Troubled Waters: Energy Security as a Maritime Security”

Author: Donna J. Nincic*in Energy Security Challenges for the 21st Century: A Reference Handbook, ed. Gal Luft and Anne Korin (Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger Security International, 2009)*Professor and Director of the ABS School of Maritime Policy and Management at the California Maritime Academy, California State University

LCDR

Aminuddin AlbekSlide2

ThesisTwo type of threats to energy securitythe threat of access to oil and natural gas supplies, and

the threat to energy infrastructure, particularly energy transportation infrastructure. Since one-quarter to one-third of the world's oil and gas reserves are believed to lie offshore, and approximately two-thirds of the world's oil trade is transported by sea, the issue of energy security is to a large extent one of maritime security.2Slide3

IntroductionThe maritime realm is fraught with conflict: piracy,

terrorism, conflict over access to fisheries, disputes over territorial boundaries and the extent of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).also poses:threats to the security of access to maritime energy supplies, and the security of the maritime transportation of energy resources.3Slide4

I. Security of Access: Maritime Border Disputes

One-quarter to one-third of oil and gas reserves are believed to lie offshore, mostly on the continental shelf.Some significant reserves lie in areas of contested EEZs, where in many cases neighboring nations have not yet established mutually-agreed upon maritime boundaries. Disputes are common, and only an estimated 39 percent of maritime boundaries are even partially resolved.Many of these involve disagreements over oil and natural gas exploration, some of which have been settled peacefully, while others remain a source of conflict even armed conflict. 4Slide5

I. Security of Access: Maritime Border Disputes

In the 1990s China and Vietnam began oil exploration in two overlapping and disputed tracts of the South China Sea known as Wan An Bet and Tu Chinh. In 1994, China claimed Indonesia's Natuna islands, containing some of the richest natural gas reserves in the world, as part of its historic territorial waters.In 2000, Surinamese military gunboats chased a floating oil exploration rig owned by Canada's CGX Energy from an area disputed with Guyana.In 2001, Iran deployed a warship and fighter planes against two research vessels from Azerbaijan operating on behalf of British Petroleum, and sent troops to its border with Azerbaijan.In February 2005, Japanese destroyers chased away Chinese exploration vessels in international waters that were too close to a possible natural gas field (claimed by Japan) in the East China Sea.In March 2005, Indonesia sent warships to an island disputed with Malaysia to assert its claims to the oil rich region, and also dispatched F-16 fighters to its border with Malaysia. Malaysia responded by dispatching warships of its own, resulting in several skirmishes5Slide6

The Spratlys & the South China Sea

In 1992, China claimed 95 percent of the South China Sea as its territorial waters. This area extends up to 1,000 miles from the Chinese mainland, and includes the Spratly, Paracel, and Senkaku island chains which China also claimed as sovereign territory and which are contested in varying degrees by six other states: Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei, and Malaysia.Overlapping claims have resulted in several military incidents since 1974, when China invaded and captured the Paracel islands from Vietnam. Between 1988 and 1998 there have been at least 10 armed conflicts over the islands in the South China Sea. In the early 1990s, China and Vietnam clashed on two occasions. The first was over disputed oil drilling rights, Vietnam accusing China of drilling in Vietnamese waters. China retaliated by seizing some 20 Vietnamese cargo ships between June and September 1992. In 1994, the two sides clashed militarily over two disputed oil exploration blocks, which the international community recognized as belonging to Vietnam.6Slide7

The Spratlys & the South China Sea

In 1995, China occupied Philippine-claimed Mischief Reef. In the resulting military action, the Chinese were evicted by the Philippine Navy. In 1996, the Chinese engaged in a 90-minute gun battle with the Philippine Navy near Campones Island.In 1997 and 1998, the Philippine Navy drove off various Chinese claimants to Scarborough Shoal.In Sep 2003, the disputing countries signed an agreement to promote the mutual development of resources in the disputed islands.In March 2005, the Chinese, Philippine and Vietnamese national oil companies signed a joint agreement to conduct marine seismic experiments for economic purposes. Confidence-building measures have been discussed, including joint research and economic development of the disputed islands.7Slide8

The ArcticThe U.S. Geological Survey estimates that nearly one

fourth of global undiscovered oil and natural gas reserves could be found beneath the Arctic Ocean, some of which may be as close as 200 miles from the North Pole. The boundaries are hotly contested: Russia, Denmark, the United States and Canada all have conflicting maritime claims in the region, leading not only to likely legal disputes, but to the possibility of military assertion as well.8Slide9

The ArcticExtent of its continental shelf: while Canada has yet to map its continental shelf fully, its boundary claims are widely expected to overlap those of the United States, Russia and

DenmarkBoth Canada and Denmark claim Hans Island, which separates Ellesmere Island from Greenland in the Nares Strait (just north of the Northwest Passage)Machias Island in the Gulf of Maine is claimed by both Canada and the United StatesThe United States and Canada dispute the precise location of their border in the productive fishing grounds of the Georges Bank in the Atlantic OceanThe delimitations of the Juan de Fuca Strait in Puget Sound, and the Dixon Entrance to the Inside Passage, is contested by Canada and the United StatesThe legal status of the Northwest Passage, which Canada claims as internal sovereign waters, and the United States asserts is an international strait. 9Slide10

The ArcticMilitary presence

In 2006, noting recent reports that U.S. nuclear submarines passed beneath Canadian waters without either notifying or seeking permission from the Canadian government.Canada has been patrolling the Arctic region with a force of 1,500 Eskimo irregulars since the early 2000s, and has launched a satellite system allowing for Arctic surveillance as far as 1,000 miles offshore.10Slide11

II. Security of Transport: Threats to Oil and Natural Gas ShippingBab el-Mandeb at the entrance to the Red Sea, the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, and the Strait of Malacca between Indonesia and

MalaysiaOne-quarter of global trade passes through Malacca each year; this includes half of all East Asian seaborne oil trade, half of China's, and two-thirds of global liquefied natural gas shipments. Approximately three MBD of oil flow through Bab el-MandebSome 90 percent of all Gulf oil amounting to nearly 40 percent of the world's maritime oil trade now passes through the Strait of Hormuz each year.11Slide12

PiracyIn 2006, 15 sailors were killed in pirate attacks

, 188 were taken hostage, and 77 were kidnapped and held for ransom.From 1995 to 2006, over 350 sailors are reported to have lost their lives in pirate attacks worldwide; 14 this has translated to roughly 30 sailors each year. While the 240 attacks reported in 2006 are the lowest number of attacks reported since 1998, and the 15 deaths in 2006 represent the lowest level of casualties since 2002, 17 sailors lost their lives in pirate attacks in the first two months of 2007.The IMB estimates that maritime piracy costs transport vessels between $13 and $15 billion a year in losses in the waters between the Pacific and Indian Ocean alone. Earlier economic estimates had placed the annual global figure at approximately $16 billion.Costs stem not only from stolen cargo and goods (and, in some cases, from the theft of the ship itself) but also from delays in port while the attack is reported and investigated, and from increased insurance rates as well.12Slide13

Piracy13

http://www.diploweb.com/IMG/png/UNOSAT_Global_Piracy_Overview_1995-2013.pngSlide14

Terrorism

In 2004 it was reported that Jemaah Islamiyah, a terrorist group operating in Indonesia, was planning to seize an oil tanker in the Straits of Malacca for use in a terror attack. The hijacked ship would then be wired with explosives and directed at other vessels, sailed towards a port, or used to threaten the narrow and congested Straits.The October 2002 capture of al-Nasheri led to the discovery that al-Qaeda had developed a four-part strategy to attack Western shipping interests: ramming vessels in suicide attacks, blowing up medium-sized ships near other vessels or at ports, attacking large vessels such as supertankers from the air by using explosive-laden small aircraft, and attacking vessels with underwater demolition teams using limpet mines or with suicide bombers.14Slide15

TerrorismThe

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has the most sophisticated maritime capabilities of all known terrorist organizations. The Sea Tigers (the maritime arm of the LTTE) are capable of carrying out attacks well offshore, and have had impressive gains against the Sri Lankan Navy. Most of their targets are Sri Lankan military vessels, or vessels carrying troops and supplies for the Sri Lankan government.On October 2001, the MV Silk Pride, an oil tanker hired by the Sri Lankan government to carry oil and other commodities to civilians in the northern part of the country, was attacked by the LTTE.15Slide16

Terrorism

The nightmare scenario is a successful attack on an LNG carrier, particularly one close to a densely populated urban center or an area of strategic importance. Because of their size, security experts consider LNG tankers to be potential floating bombs. Natural gas is highly pressurized and cooled to a liquid state for transport. In its liquefied state, it can neither burn nor explode. However, if a tanker spill or rupture were to occur, the liquid could return suddenly to its gaseous state, which could then ignite and burn.16Slide17

ConclusionGiven the disputes and sources of conflict in the maritime sphere, energy security should be firmly

placed within the context of maritime security.With the future of energy exploration lying largely in the world's oceans, and with so many known and potential oil and natural gas reserves lying in areas with disputed maritime boundaries, conflict over access to these resources is bound to continue.With so much of the world's energy supplies in transit on the world's oceans, safe and secure transit is also a maritime security issue.17Slide18

DiscussionWith the increase of energy consumption, there is a possibility for the increase of maritime energy sources exploration on high seas (non-state territories). This may also create maritime conflicts. Who will win the competition? How to rule?

How should states respond to mitigate the impacts?18