11 Popular Books On Maritime Security

The world is changing and so is the maritime industry! Likewise, the rules and regulations that govern the marine industry evolve and emerge.

These rules and guidelines of the maritime industry are laid down and implemented in form of codes and conventions by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).  

Every seafarer has to follow the maritime codes and conventions, which constantly change due to factors that affect the maritime industry. 

Good books on Maritime security gives details of the shipping laws that seafarers and ship owners need to follow at sea. The maritime security books will be valuable for any sea-going professional throughout their career.

maritime security

Here, we recommend the top eleven maritime books, which are must-haves in the collection of every seafarer.

Maritime Security: An Introduction by Michael McNicholas

Maritime Security: An Introduction provides readers with a practical, experience-based, and proven guide on maritime security. Author McNicholas explains how commercial seaports and vessel’s function, the threats, security policies, procedures, and measures apply to diminish these threats in lucid language. The author briefs on how to perform ship and port security assessments. The book provides invaluable insight for the professionals who protect our ships and ports from different problems like cargo theft, piracy, illegal fishing, weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Additional chapters of the book focus on United Nations legal conventions and frameworks, transnational crime, and migration.

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Maritime Security: An Introduction
  • McNicholas, Michael (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 514 Pages - 04/22/2016 (Publication Date) - Butterworth-Heinemann (Publisher)

Maritime Security and the Law of the Sea: Help or Hindrance? Edited by Malcolm D. Evans and Sofia Galani

The book offers insight into maritime security, from contemporary challenges to ocean security to the growing activities of both state and non-state actors bound at sea. Chapters focus on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) and how the LOSC has not addressed all maritime security threats.

The book also features contributions from expert professionals of academics and practitioners in the maritime field. It further gives information about new maritime security threats like piracy and illegal fishing.

Finally, it analyses how different states have had to reconsider and rethink their understanding of maritime security in the face of modern challenges like the robotics revolution, the blue economy agenda and the rise of unpiloted systems.

Maritime Security and the Law of the Sea: Help or Hindrance?
  • Hardcover Book
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 240 Pages - 01/31/2020 (Publication Date) - Edward Elgar Publishing (Publisher)

Guide to Maritime Security and the ISPS Code by the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization

This User Guide merges the existing International Maritime Organisation (IMO) maritime security-related material into an easily read companion guide.

The guide also includes materials from the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) chapter XI-2 and the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code).

This manual aims to guide States in promoting maritime security by creating the requisite legal framework, associated administrative practices, and the required technical and human resources. The guide should also serve as an aid and a ready reference for those involved in leading capacity-building measures in the field of maritime security.

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Guide to Maritime Security and the ISPS Code: 2012 Edition
  • Guide to Maritime
  • Security and the ISPS Code
  • Guide to Maritime Security
  • Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)

International Maritime Security Law by Kraska James

International Maritime Security Law by James Kraska provides readers with a valuable insight into an emerging interdisciplinary field of law and policy to address the plethora of threats and challenge our oceans face today.

Threats include the menace of offshore terrorism, weapons of mass destruction (WMD), piracy, smuggling, robbery, and marine insurgency. The book talks vividly about various elements like humanitarian law, human rights, criminal law, the law of the sea, inspection regimes, commercial enterprise, marine safety and environmental stewardship.

Kraska says that global maritime partnership among states, international organisations, and commercial interests is the need of the hour. It will help protect the maritime commons from the most dangerous risks and hazards.

International Maritime Security Law
  • Kraska James (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 966 Pages - 03/15/2018 (Publication Date) - Brill | Nijhoff (Publisher)

Maritime Safety, Security and Piracy by Wayne Talley

Maritime Safety, Security and Piracy by Wayne Talley is the first book to discuss safety, security and piracy in the maritime context. The book has two sections. The first section talks about ships and ports.

The second section covers the safety assessments of ships, European ship safety principles, ship accidents, the behaviour of pirates, port state control guidelines, port security, and port theft.

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Maritime Safety, Security and Piracy (The Grammenos Library)
  • Hardcover Book
  • Talley, Wayne (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 368 Pages - 12/31/2008 (Publication Date) - Informa Law from Routledge (Publisher)

Maritime Security and the Law of the Sea by Natalie Klein

Maritime Security and the Sea Law examine states’ rights and duties across a broad range of maritime security threats. It covers the various dimensions of maritime security.

For instance, the book talks about the rules regulating law enforcement activities of various maritime zones, the passage routes and technicalities of military vessels and military activities, information sharing guide and intelligence gathering, and armed conflict and naval warfare. 

The book addresses traditional security concerns for naval power and scrutinises responses to contemporary maritime security threats, such as piracy, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, drug trafficking, environmental damage, and illegal fishing.

The book argues that while the protection of sovereignty and national interests remains key to maritime security and sea law, there is a growing acceptance of common interest among states when seeking to respond to contemporary maritime security threats.

As a result, Klein says that security interests require more significant weightage in our understanding of the sea laws in light of the shifting dynamics related to the use of the seas and ocean. 

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Maritime Security and the Law of the Sea (Oxford Monographs in International Law)
  • Used Book in Good Condition
  • Klein, Natalie (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 382 Pages - 11/25/2012 (Publication Date) - Oxford University Press (Publisher)

Ports, Crime and Security: Governing and Policing Seaports in a Changing World by Anna Sergi, Alexandria Reid, Luca Storti, and Marleen Easton

Recent occurrences like the Covid-19 pandemic, the trade disputes of US-China, and the Brexit have escalated interest across geopolitics and the security of the modern-day ports. The authors of this book apply a multidisciplinary approach to brief about political economy and situation security at the port. Ports are where contemporary global dilemmas converge:

  • The (de)regulation of international flows
  • The impact of globalisation
  • The recurrent strain between trade and security
  • The thin line between legitimate and illegal trade

The book gives us a unique perception of the social, economic and political factors of port security and the policies governing it.

Ports, Crime and Security: Governing and Policing Seaports in a Changing World
  • Hardcover Book
  • Sergi, Anna (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 144 Pages - 08/01/2021 (Publication Date) - Bristol University Press (Publisher)

Maritime Cybersecurity: A Guide for Leaders and Managers by Gary C. Kessler and Steven D. Shepard

The maritime industry is ancient. This industry includes both ships and ports and follows ancient practices. However, computers that have only existed for the last six decades today play an essential role in protecting global assets. Today, we find the maritime industry, with its rich tradition facing new threats and vulnerabilities due to computerisation. The book explores cybersecurity aspects of the maritime sector and the various contemporary vulnerabilities that it faces.

Maritime Cybersecurity: A Guide for Leaders and Managers
  • Kessler PhD, Gary C. (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 251 Pages - 09/02/2020 (Publication Date) - Independently published (Publisher)

Contemporary Maritime Piracy: International Law, Strategy, and Diplomacy at Sea by James Kraska

The incidence of maritime piracy has exploded in the past few decades. The first three months of 2011 saw the hijack of 18 ships, with 344 crew hostage and seven murdered.

The economic costs of maritime piracy are also high, reaching $7 to $12 billion per year. As insurance costs skyrocket, ransoms keep increasing every year; vessels often hire armed security for protection. 

The pirates handle from the Horn of Africa, rattling shipping traffic through the strategic Suez Canal and siphoning transit fees from Egypt. At the same time, the seizure of supertankers in the Indian Ocean underlines the vulnerability of the world’s oil supply.

The book examines the efforts of governments, private industry, and different regional and international organisations in developing naval strategy, the provisions in international law and diplomacy, and industry guidelines that will aid in suppressing contemporary maritime piracy.

Contemporary Maritime Piracy: International Law, Strategy, and Diplomacy at Sea (Contemporary Military, Strategic, and Security Issues)
  • Hardcover Book
  • Kraska, James (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 280 Pages - 06/02/2011 (Publication Date) - Praeger (Publisher)

A Practitioner’s Guide to Effective Maritime and Port Security by Michael Edgerton

This book is written from an international perspective and analyses some complex questions affecting port and maritime operations security.

These include questions on shipping, politics, economics, crime, and terrorism. With an experience of more than 27 years in the field, author Michael Edgerton analyses current maritime and port security challenges. He not only points out susceptibilities in today’s maritime practices but also provides a set of proven and tested recommendations.

These recommendations or guidelines recognise the role and interests of both the government and the private sector in improving security while ensuring the efficient flow of international trade. 

The book reviews the core components of the international maritime operating environment, examines approaches to maritime security in the U.S., Europe, and other parts of the world, reviews the potential threats to ports in the maritime environment, presents principles for adequate, risk-based maritime and port security.

Maritime and Port Security
  • Hardcover Book
  • Edgerton, Michael (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 296 Pages - 03/18/2013 (Publication Date) - Wiley (Publisher)

Issues in Maritime Cyber Security Edited by Fred S. Roberts, Nicole K. Drumheller, Joseph DiRenzo III

The world depends on maritime commerce to move vast amounts of services, goods and people. This effort is referred to as the Maritime Transportation System or MTS as it is popular. 

A significant element of this challenging multi-faceted transportation system is the cyber networks and the infrastructure they control. The automation process of the MTS is expanding, from complex elements handling the container loading and unloading process, global efficiently navigation systems onboard vessels and the hydraulic valves that protect marine spills.

The impact of cybersecurity systems on the international MTS is significant. Along with clear advantages, it brings various vulnerabilities and challenges as well. For example, we constantly hear news about cyberattacks that shut down boating oil rigs by tilting them. The task of making our MTS safe from cyber-attacks is daunting. The need is that all government and private industry stakeholders need to be involved in cybersecurity as the utilization of MTS is expanding.

This pioneering book is beneficial to a wide range of audiences, from individuals involved in national security, risk analysis, cyber threats, maritime policy, government and private sector practitioners interested in the array of cyber risks and potential cyber-defence issues in the maritime community.

These are some of the top maritime security books which every seafarer must have. These books will valuable insights to seafarers and professionals associated with the maritime industry about the various issues plaguing the industry and help them reach an amicable solution.

Issues in Maritime Cyber Security
  • Roberts, Fred S. (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 602 Pages - 07/21/2017 (Publication Date) - Westphalia Press (Publisher)

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About Author

Ajay Menon is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, with an integrated major in Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture. Besides writing, he balances chess and works out tunes on his keyboard during his free time.

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