Category: Security policy

Editorial: Things are not going well

Recent maritime headlines are causing concern. Is the public aware of what is happening? Where do we actually stand in terms of maritime blindness? More than half a century ago, the German Maritime Institute and its marineforum set out to spread the "maritime idea" south of the Moin equator, something like this: "Understand that industry and trade, jobs and prosperity depend on the open sea and its access points. If that is too complicated for you, you can be satisfied with the "no shipping - no shopping" sticker for the time being. The trend turned gradually: attentive TV viewers noticed that the background of business news was redecorated from industrial chimneys to sea containers, and from 2000 onwards there was...

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On the way to the glass ocean

Maritime data cables and pipelines have repeatedly been the target of attacks. Interdisciplinary cooperation could significantly improve the security of critical underwater infrastructure. Increasing geopolitical uncertainty and repeated incidents, such as the recently reported espionage by Russian research vessels in European waters, have highlighted the vulnerability of critical underwater infrastructure. The threat to pipelines, offshore wind farms and especially communication cables is increasing. This is illustrated by the damage to the C-Lion1 cable between Finland and Germany and the BCS East-West Interlink, which connects Lithuania with the Swedish island of Gotland. These infrastructures are access marineforum digital+ Are you already a registered user? Log in here now - also MOV members: Username Password Weiterlesen

Red Sea: Chronology of a new form of war - low-cost versus high-tech

In response to the Israel-Gaza war, the Yemeni Houthi militias are threatening international shipping in the Red Sea. In the fight against their new low-cost weapons, the allies have to deploy very expensive missiles - simple versus sophisticated. Here is a review of the last twelve months (as at the end of November 2024) with an attached chronology of events. Included is a current addendum dated 23 January 2025 with an addendum dated 27 January 2025. On 19 November 2023, six weeks after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October and three weeks after the start of the Israeli ground offensive in the Israel-Gaza war, the Houthi militias opened their seaward support campaign for Hamas and...

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Hubs of global maritime trade

Straits connect oceans with each other. These maritime choke points are interfaces between international trade and security policy - and therefore have geostrategic significance. Maritime choke points - or straits and strategic waterways - form central hubs in the global maritime transport network. They act as essential transit routes for international trade and as strategic control points in the geopolitical order. Around two thirds of maritime trade is transported via these strategically important waterways, making them essential to the functioning of the global economy. The blockade of the Suez Canal and the heightened tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have highlighted the vulnerability of these maritime corridors and the far-reaching...

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Promoting national expertise

Once again, naval shipbuilding has been declared a key national technology. However, this decision also creates obligations. With the National Security and Defence Industry Strategy (SVI Strategy) adopted by the Federal Cabinet on 4 December 2024, the concept of national key technologies, which has been known since the first government paper of this kind in 2015, has been confirmed once again. This is good news, as Germany is doing what other European countries - such as France and Sweden - have already implemented before us: In the area of security and defence-related skills in our domestic industry, we are defining areas that we can access marineforum digital+ Are you already a registered user? Now...

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