Shipping and regional security

Abstract

This monograph is the fourth in the series to be published by the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre on behalf of the CSCAP Maritime Cooperation Working Group. It includes the discussion papers presented at the fourth meeting of the working group held in Tokyo on 19 November 1997. The first group of chapters in the monograph looks at the security aspects of shipping and seaborne trade from global, regional and national perspectives, and in the particular context of the South China Sea. Subsequent chapters examine the concerns of regional countries with the carriage by sea of strategic cargoes such as oil, gas and other raw materials essential for their economic wellbeing. Others chapters focus on more specific environmental and navigational safety issues arising from the transport by sea of hazardous or dangerous cargoes, particularly in confined areas such as the Malacca and Singapore straits. There is general agreement by the different contributors that because these concerns are shared by most regional countries, they provide considerable scope for security cooperation and dialogue.