Crimes at sea: Exploring the nexus of maritime crimes across global EEZs

Abstract

Maritime crime refers to conduct which is perpetrated wholly or partly at sea and is prohibited under applicable national and international law. It also represents an understudied sector of crime and security. Crimes including maritime piracy and armed robbery; illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; terrorism; and illegal drug, arms, wildlife, and human trafficking occur across maritime zones and pose serious threats to international trade, national security, and maritime security. Notably, these crimes often do not occur in isolation. Previous research has documented the convergence of these crimes within the terrestrial space but is thus far lacking a similar analysis as it pertains to the maritime space, which accounts for one of the most commonly used trafficking modes. Therefore, using data from the Stable Seas database, we aim to understand how different types of maritime crimes geographically converge and what this intersection means for policy and practice. Specifically, data on maritime piracy and armed robbery; mixed migration; and maritime arms, cannabis, coca, opiate, synthetic drug, and wildlife trades are analyzed to (1) establish rankings of maritime crime importance; (2) develop typologies of maritime crime convergence; and (3) integrate predictor variables to understand why certain regions tend to experience more abundant crime than others. Given data availability and policy relevancy, analyses focused on coastal countries of Africa, Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific.