Abstract
Sovereignty and state monopoly on the use of force are among the defining characteristics of the nation-state. Since the end of the Cold War, however, non-state actors—notably private military and security companies (PMSCs)—have once again begun to play a significant role in national and international security governance. PMSCs are also active at sea, not least protecting vessels against pirate attacks. Although there was an initial reluctance to entrust the protection of merchant ships to PMSCs, many states have now introduced regulations that provide for, or at least tolerate, their use. State failure to protect ships and crews and the strategic alliance-building by PMSCs helped them to secure a place in maritime security governance.
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- 1.
When referring to companies active at sea, some prefer the term ‘private maritime security company’ (also abbreviated to ‘PMSC’). Whilst this locational (sea-based vs. land-based) distinction is possible at the operational level, it cannot be applied to companies themselves, many of whom offer services in both environments. Besides this, a clear distinction between land- and sea-based missions is often not possible. For these reasons, the term ‘private military and security company’ is preferred here.
- 2.
References to specific countries or case studies therefore do not figure prominently in this chapter.
- 3.
Actually controlling the waters areas, however, has remained a difficult task despite advances in shipbuilding, weapon design, and surveillance technology (Rothwell and Stephens 2012: 412–3).
- 4.
See United Nations 2015, from which all relevant quotations here are drawn.
- 5.
In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, navies have increasingly shared protective functions with other maritime agencies such as the marine police and the coastguard (Till 2013: 305).
- 6.
Where attempts have been made to do so, these have generally been unsuccessful or short-lived. One such project was the US Neutrality Act of 1935.
- 7.
According to Art. 19 of UNCLOS, a ship’s passage through another state’s territorial waters “is innocent so long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State. Such passage shall take place in conformity with this Convention and with other rules of international law”.
- 8.
This observation, and all others marked ‘A Int’, is made on the basis of interviews carried out by the author between 2003 and 2015 in Australia, Asia, and Europe.
- 9.
- 10.
Some, however, are known to have worked for criminal organisations and radical political groups.
- 11.
At the national level, existing industry bodies—such as the German Association of the Private Security Industry (Bundesverband der Sicherheitswirtschaft)—would often support the agendas of the maritime PMSCs.
- 12.
No legally binding regulations on the use of maritime PMSCs were issued by any other international body either.
- 13.
These include, for example, coordinated sea and air patrols in the Malacca Strait (Liss 2011).
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Liss, C. (2017). Challenging Sovereignty and State Control of Violence at Sea? The Operations of Private Anti-Piracy Security Providers. In: Gertheiss, S., Herr, S., Wolf, K., Wunderlich, C. (eds) Resistance and Change in World Politics . Global Issues. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50445-2_3
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