Abstract
In the present context of global terrorism, managing protective security in cruise and passenger ships is a challenge for organisations. This is due, in part, to the distinct lack of a counter terrorism framework for the industry. To address this gap, this paper develops a counter terrorism framework for cruise and passenger ships. This framework identifies protective security components and terrorist threats based on known attacks. It provides stakeholders with a means to assess risk, both in terms of likelihood and wider organisational impact. From an operational security perspective, the contribution of the framework is threefold: First, it offers a consistent approach to delivering an effective protective security posture at all stages of a ship’s itinerary. Second, it is envisaged that the application of the framework will improve security decision-making within organisations. Third, improved organisational security may, over time, enhance deterrence.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmad M (2020) Maritime piracy operations: some legal issues. J Int Marit Saf Environ Aff Shipp 4(3):62–69
BIMCO (2018) The guidelines on cyber security onboard ships- Version 3
Bowen C, Fidgeon P, Page SJ (2014) Maritime tourism and terrorism: customer perceptions of the potential terrorist threat to cruise shipping. Curr Issues Tour 17(7):610–639
Briggs R (2008) Building strong communities to tackle the terror threat. Paper presented at BISA Annual Conference, Exeter University, 15–17 December 2008
Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies (2019) Global Risk Index 2020: executive summary
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2021) Legionella (Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac fever). https://www.cdc.gov/legionella/index.html
Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (2018) Advice & guidance. https://www.cpni.gov.uk/advice-guidance
Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (2019) Protective security risk management. https://www.cpni.gov.uk/rmm/protective-security-risk-management
Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (2021a) Fire as a weapon. https://www.cpni.gov.uk/fire-weapon-0
Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (2021b) Marauding terrorist attacks. https://www.cpni.gov.uk/marauding-terrorist-attacks-1
Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (2021c) Reducing insider risk. https://www.cpni.gov.uk/reducing-insider-risk
Chalk P (2008) The maritime dimension of international security: terrorism, piracy, and challenges for the United States. Santa Monica: RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG697.html
Chapsos I, Noortmann M (2017) Maritime terrorism. In: The SAGE encyclopedia of political behaviour. SAGE Publications, pp 462–463
Commonwealth of Australia (2017) Australia’s strategy for protecting crowded places from terrorism. https://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/crowded-places-subsite/Files/australias-strategy-protecting-crowded-places-terrorism.pdf
Cyberhedge (2020) World’s second largest container shipping company MSC suffers a network outage, possibly due to a cyber attack. https://cyberhedge.com/insights/daily/2020/04/14/world-s-second-largest-container-shipping-company-msc-suffers-a-network-outage-possibly-due-to-a-cyber-attack/
Daily Mail (2012) Neurosurgeon ordered off cruise after fake Twitter account said he planned on staging ‘epic’ bio-terrorist attack. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2142006/Neurosurgeon-pulled-cruise-fake-bio-terrorism-Tweet.html
Danish Defence Intelligence Service (2020) The cyber threat against the Danish maritime industry and ports. https://www.cfcs.dk/globalassets/cfcs/dokumenter/trusselsvurderinger/en/cfcs-cyber-threat-danish-maritime-industry-and-ports-.pdf
Dopoulos P (1988) Urgent gunmen fire aboard cruise ship; 9 killed 98 wounded. https://apnews.com/article/c7e8b81dc7192ad34b0e123a5f11cd4e
Gathii JT (2010) Kenya’s piracy prosecutions. Am J Int Law 104 (3):416–436
Halberstam M (1988) Terrorism on the high seas: the Achille Lauro, piracy and the IMO convention on maritime safety. Am J Int Law 82(2):269–310
Heathcote P (2004) An explanation of the new measures for maritime security aboard ships and in port facilities. Marit Stud 2004(137):13–21
Holling CS (1973) Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 4(1):1–23
IMO (2017) Msc-fal.1/circ.3 guidelines on maritime cyber risk management. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/OurWork/Security/Documents/MSC-FAL.1-Circ.3%20-%20Guidelines%20On%20Maritime%20Cyber%20Risk%20Management%20(Secretariat).pdf. Accessed 15 July 2021
International Maritime Organisation (2017) Resolution MSC.428 (98) Maritime Cyber Risk Management in Safety Management Systems IMO Doc. MSC 98/23/Add.1, Annex 10. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/OurWork/Security/Documents/Resolution%20MSC.428(98).pdf
International Maritime Organization (2003) ISPS Code: International Ship and Port Facility Security Code and SOLAS Amendments 2002 (IMO: London). https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Security/Pages/SOLAS-XI-2%20ISPS%20Code.aspx
International Maritime Organization (2019) Strategy for the development and implementation of e-navigation. http://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Safety/Navigation/Pages/eNavigation.aspx
Joyner CC (1989) Suppression of terrorism on the high seas: the 1988 IMO convention on the safety of maritime navigation. In: Israel yearbook on human rights, vol 19. Brill Nijhoff, pp 343–369
Karim MS (2017) The international law of maritime terrorism. In: Maritime terrorism and the role of judicial institutions in the international legal order. Brill Nijhoff, pp 39–66
Karim MS (2022) Maritime cybersecurity and the IMO legal instruments: sluggish response to an escalating threat? Mar Policy 143:105138
Kipkech J, Kuhn K, Shaikh S (2021) Cyber security and disruptive technologies, chap. 21. Routledge Handbook of Maritime Security
Korff D (2019) The territorial (and extra-territorial) application of the GDPR with particular attention to groups of companies including non-EU companies and to companies and groups of companies that offer software-as-a-service. Available at SSRN 3439293
Kuhn K, Bicakci S, Shaikh SA (2021) COVID-19 digitization in maritime: understanding cyber risks. WMU J Marit Aff 20(2):193–214
Malcolm JA (2013) Project argus and the resilient citizen. Politics 33(4):311–321
Malcolm JA (2016) Responding to international terrorism: the securitisation of the United Kingdom’s ports. Br J Polit Int Relat 18(2):443–462
Maritime Executive (2020) Carnival corporation reports ransomware attack accessed data. https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/carnival-corporation-reports-ransomware-attack-accessed-data
McIlhatton D, Berry J, Chapman D, Christensen PH, Cuddihy J, Monaghan R, Range D (2020) Protecting crowded places from terrorism: an analysis of the current considerations and barriers inhibiting the adoption of counterterrorism protective security measures. Stud Conflict Terrorism 43(9):753–774
McKee K (2009) Post-Foucauldian governmentality: what does it offer critical social policy analysis? Crit Soc Pol 29(3):474
Mensah TA (2004) The place of the ISPS Code in the legal international regime. WMU J Marit Aff 3(1):17–30
National Counter Terrorism Security Office (2020) Crowded places guidance. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/crowded-places-guidance
O’Brien G, Read P (2005) Future uk emergency management: new wine, old skin? Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal
OJ L 119 (2016) Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj
Orosz MD, Southwell C, Barrett A, Bakir O, Chen J, Maya I (2009) Portsec: port security risk management and resource allocation system. IFAC Proc 42(15):135–142
Parkin S, Kuhn K, Shaikh SA (2021) Scenario-driven assessment of cyber risk perception at the security executive level. In: Workshop on usable security and privacy. In–Press
Pastoris MC, Monaco RL, Goldoni P, Mentore B, Balestra G, Ciceroni L (1999) Legionnaires’ disease on a cruise ship linked to the water supply system: clinical and public health implications. Clin Infect Dis 28(1):33–38
Robertson N, Cruickshank P, Lister T (2012) CNN: Documents reveal al Qaeda’s plans for seizing cruise ships, carnage in Europe. https://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/30/world/al-qaeda-documents-future/index.html
Rubin B, Rubin JC (2008) Chronologies of modern terrorism. Routledge, New York
START (National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism) (2020) Global terrorism database 1970 - 2020 [data file]. https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=200402270002
Shaw K (2012) The rise of the resilient local authority? Local Gov Stud 38(3):281–300
Smith WE (1985) Terrorism: the voyage of the Achille Lauro
Stanford University (2019) Mapping militant organizations. “Moro Islamic Liberation Front.”. https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/moro-islamic-liberation-front#text_block_20203
Stewart MG, Mueller J (2013) Aviation security, risk assessment, and risk aversion for public decisionmaking. J Pol Anal Manag 32(3):615–633
The American Club (2009) Piracy – frequently asked questions (FAQs). https://www.american-club.com/files/files/MA_Piracy_faq_060209.pdf
Tran M (2015) Lost at sea-plunge into cruise ship jurisdiction: which governmental agency regulates health on passenger vessels, which governmental agency responds in the event of a biological attack on a vessel, and what can be done to prepare. J Biosecurity Biosaf Biodefense L 6:109
U.S. Coast Guard IPSP (2019) Security threats and trends. https://portalcip.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/8-Security-Threats-and-Trends_May19.pdf
U.S. Department of Homeland Security and The National Academies (2021) IED attack: improvised explosive devices. https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/prep_ied_fact_sheet.pdf
UN General Assembly (1982) United Nations convention on the law of the sea, Article 101. https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf
Walker CM (2012) Cruise ships: the next terrorism target. Travel Law Q 2:124–135
Wambua M (2022) A critical review of the global legal framework on piracy: 40 years after UNCLOS. Marit Aff J Natl Marit Found India 18(1):134–148
Acknowledgement
This research was supported by the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre (NMIOTC).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Kuhn, K., McIlhatton, D., Malcolm, J.A. et al. Protective security at sea: a counter terrorism framework for cruise and passenger ships. WMU J Marit Affairs 22, 345–363 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13437-022-00296-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13437-022-00296-w