ABSTRACT
This chapter draws together the key observations from the preceding chapters, and makes recommendations to enhance the prospects for the international agreements to provide a basis for preventing the occurrence of maritime terrorist attacks. It reinforces the importance of continual active implementation and monitoring of security arrangements mandated and recommended by the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, as well as timely reporting by contracting governments about maritime security arrangements to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). It also highlights areas for the IMO to develop further guidance on maritime security-related issues in consultation with contracting governments and the maritime industry – including the carriage of firearms and use of force by ship security personnel; and measures to protect offshore installations and submarine cables from deliberate interference. The chapter also reiterates the advantages of wider ratification of the 2005 Protocol to the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, which sets out a balanced framework of rules to facilitate vessel interdictions. It concludes by outlining recommended areas for future research on more specific aspects of the challenges of preventing the occurrence of maritime terrorist attacks.
