ABSTRACT
The geo-strategic importance of the maritime domain across the world remains enormous. This relates to the massive haulage of goods and services by sea as well as the vast deposits of natural resources and animal life useful to human existence. In Southeast Asia, piracy emerged a significant security concern in the aftermath of the Cold War. The International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB-PRC) based in Kuala Lumpur recorded a sustained increase in reported incidents of piracy in the 1990s accompanied by a sudden rise from 94 incidents in 1998 to 257 in the year 2000. The United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and European Union as well as various national governments, organised distinct maritime security operations in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea area. The Gulf of Guinea has assumed a significant status as the world’s leading space for piracy, in terms of the number and gravity of attacks.
