Maritime Security: Lost in Translation? Developing a Common Lexicon to Enhance Data Integrity and Global Maritime Domain Awareness

With the proliferation of post-Cold War globalisation, the international community began to appreciate the immense importance of maritime security. In recent decades, numerous national, regional, and global information sharing centres have been established with an aim to provide relevant stakeholders with an assessment of the risks and threats within the maritime domain. Unfortunately, international organisations failed to simultaneously emphasise the importance of standardised terminology and definitions for use in the global maritime security context. Instead of using other standardised areas of the maritime industry such as maritime safety as a guide, dozens of government agencies, regional reporting centres, private maritime security companies, and information sharing/fusion centres have now been established. Each of these uses its own unique categories, terminology, and definitions to measure and catalogue regional and global incidents of violent maritime crime. In this article, that includes acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships. In some cases, political and economic bias has played a significant role in how maritime security incident data is officially recorded and presented to the public. This lack of data cohesion has resulted in significant confusion and distrust amongst the shipping industry and policymakers. It has also created an uncertain environment for seafarers, who largely depend on their employers and regulators to keep them safe and secure at sea. The research includes an analysis of several sets of qualitative and quantitative data from prominent agencies and reporting centres. Case studies are also presented to illustrate why harmonised terminology, definitions, and incident reporting protocols are integral to achieving global maritime domain awareness. The numerous challenges to achieving this goal are then explored and proposed solutions are presented. The paper concludes by proposing a lexicon for incidents of violent maritime crime, as a first step in creating a common lexicon for global maritime security. As stated in earlier issues, this journal does not seek to promote a common definition of maritime security, but a common lexicon is of more practical use. This article is based on a dissertation completed as part of the master’s degree in Maritime Security at Coventry University in 2022.