Seafaring Communities Research Articles

Addressing maritime security challenges through maritime domain awareness: a study of the role of the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region

ABSTRACT In recent years, many non-traditional maritime safety and security threats viz. piracy, armed robberies at sea, maritime terrorism, human trafficking, drugs trafficking, illicit trafficking in wildlife, illegal deals in weapons, IUU fishing, dilapidation of ocean health and illegal exploitation of sea resources, etc. have emerged as real and serious challenges not only to the commercial shipping but also to the national security. A comprehensive response from the worldwide seafaring community is the need of the hour to tackle these maritime threats, both natural and man-made. India’s initiative of establishing the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in the year 2018 can be regarded as a significant step in dealing with the variety of maritime security challenges. Jointly managed and run by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, the IFC-IOR fulfils the purpose of creating Maritime Domain Awareness on the issues pertaining to maritime safety and security. Protecting maritime interests and augmenting security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is indispensable for maintaining free navigation and overflight, unconstrained commerce and a free, open and UNCLOS-based regime in the IOR.

IMPACTS OF SABAH’S TOURISM ON THE STATELESS PALA’U IN SEMPORNA, SABAH

Abstract Semporna, located in Sabah, Malaysia, is renowned for its eco-tourism attractions. It is also the dwelling place of a significant population of stateless sea gypsies, locally referred to as the Pala’u. The Pala’u are a nomadic seafaring community that has resided for generations on their traditional houseboats, known as Lepa, while navigating the southeastern coastline of Borneo. Despite prevailing legal restrictions against the involvement of the stateless Pala’u in tourism activities, their mere presence in Semporna has captivated numerous tourists, attracting them to visit Semporna. This engagement has opened up employment opportunities and income sources for the Pala’u. As tourism continues to grow in Semporna, Sabah, the participation of the Pala’u in Sabah’s tourism has exerted significant influences on the well-being of this minority indigenous group. This study adopted a qualitative approach and, drawing on data gathered from key informant interviews and secondary sources, explored the participation of the Pala’u in Sabah’s tourism. The research posits that Malaysia should formulate a specific policy to regulate the involvement of the Pala’u in tourism, as they persist as an unofficial tourist attraction in Semporna despite the prevailing prohibition. Given their historical and cultural significance, the Pala’u warrant distinctive consideration within the legal framework to govern their participation in tourism so as to grant them essential access, means of sustenance, and protection from exploitation and criminal activities.

Agila and the reanimation of seafaring on the south coast of Papua New Guinea after 770 cal BP

Seafaring ceramicists connected widely spaced communities along the expanse of PNG’s south coast for more than 1,500 years following the arrival of people using pots with Lapita decoration c.2,900 cal BP. Archaeological investigations at locations from the Gulf of Papua in the west to Mailu Island in the east suggest a major change occurred to seafaring and social relations after 1,200 cal BP. The following five centuries often referred to as the ‘Ceramic Hiccup’ were characterised by a contraction in the scale of formerly long-distance voyaging. Here we present results of recent archaeological excavations at the ancestral village site of Agila in Hood Bay east of Port Moresby. The decorations on older pot sherds at Agila are akin to those on ancestral Motu pottery known from Motupore Island to the west. The decoration changes on more recent sherds which have more in common with ancestral Mailu pottery from Mailu Island to the east. Details of changing seafaring relations – from west to east – at Agila were published in 2018 after our first field season. However, results from the first field season left questions about site antiquity unresolved. We returned to Agila in 2022 and continued excavations to address those questions. Our excavations revealed that initial settlement at Agila coincided with a reanimation of coastal seafaring after 770 cal BP. Results also show that the major pottery manufacturing and seafaring community of Motupore maintained relations with communities to both the east and west. An analysis of the ceramic assemblage allows us to historicise the emergence of social strategies which entrenched Hood Bay at a nexus between Motu and Mailu specialised trading and seafaring communities.

Paths Across the Sea: Meteo-Marine Conditions for Coastal Navigation Around the Balearic Islands During the Middle and Late Bronze Ages

Throughout history the Balearic Islands have had different degrees of social connectivity between the islands themselves and between them and the mainland. While the influence of historical dynamics is well documented, less so is the impact of winds, currents, and meteo-marine conditions. This paper analyses the meteo-marine conditions for coastal navigation to better understand how these configured the main maritime routes across the islands. We focus on the seafaring communities of the Balearic Islands in the Bronze Age when a series of sites along the coastline suggest the creation of a network of coastal infrastructure to support maritime mobility.

Vernacular Tradition, Dalits and Connected Social History in the Littoral Bay of Bengal

The Bengal delta has been a recipient of Islamic influences since medieval times through trade, commerce and cultural exchanges with Southeast and West Asia via the Bay of Bengal–Indian Ocean trade route. This aspect of Bengal’s cultural history and engagement with different religious traditions has gained attention in recent times through works done on subaltern literature, cultural history and global history. The vernacular tradition of littoral Bengal presents a strong frontrunner for this. Jatra (theatre), pala (lyrical play), scroll painting of pir, gazi, fakir and poetic discourse locally known as tarja demonstrate the diverse forms of vernacular philosophy in the littoral Bay of Bengal. In this article, I will engage with Bonbibis Johurnama, an Islamic text 1 which illustrates the struggle of the protagonist Dukhe who is protected by Bonbibi (forest goddess) from the man-eating tiger, personified as Dakhin Ray, the Hindu god. The article will explore the cosmic and mundane aspects of marginalized seafaring communities who depend on the delta’s backwaters and the mangrove forest for livelihood. Bonbibi is venerated as the ultimate protector in this amorphous landscape, interspersed by land and water. The vernacular history of the region exposes the serendipity and the mundane everyday activities of Dalit fisherman who venture into the forests and backwaters to collect honey and wax. Through vernacular text – punthi literature – I will show how the ritual practices are shared and how this shapes the religious syncreticism that creates solidarity between Dalit Hindu and Muslim foresters and fishers in the delta. These syncretic and heterodox religious practices are part of the vernacular literary tradition that illustrates how the littoral villages have lived together. The maritime trade and cultural acquaintances with the wider littoral world has been an obvious influence on the creation of liminal religiosity.

Is Malayo-Polynesian a primary branch of Austronesian?

Abstract An understudied morphosyntactic innovation, reanalysis of the Proto-Austronesian (PAn) stative intransitive prefix *ma- as a transitive affix, offers new insights into Austronesian higher-order subgrouping. Malayo-Polynesian is currently considered a primary branch of Austronesian, with no identifiably closer relationship with any linguistic subgroup in the homeland (Blust 1999, 2009/2013; Ross 2005). However, the fact that it displays the same innovative use of ma- with Amis, Siraya, Kavalan and Basay-Trobiawan and shares the merger of PAn *C/t with this group suggests that Malayo-Polynesian and East Formosan may share a common origin – the subgroup that comprises the four languages noted above. This observation points to a revised subgrouping more consistent with a socio-historical picture where the out-of-Taiwan population descended from a seafaring community expanding to the Batanes and Luzon after having developed a seafaring tradition. It also aligns with recent findings in archaeology and genetics that (i) eastern Taiwan is the most likely starting point of Austronesian dispersal (Hung 2005, 2008, 2019; Bellwood 2017; Bellwood & Dizon 2008; Carson & Hung 2018) and (ii) that the Amis bear a significantly closer relationship with Austronesian communities outside Taiwan (Capelli et al. 2001; Trejaut et al. 2005; McColl et al. 2018; Pugach et al. 2021; Tätte et al. 2021). Future investigation of additional shared innovations between Malayo-Polynesian and East Formosan could shed further light on their interrelationships.

Black Political Worlds in Port Cities: Garveyism in 1920s Britain†.

The presence of Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in the British ports of London, Manchester, Cardiff, and Barry during the 1920s has yet to be charted by historians of either Garveyism or Black Britain. Uncovering this history provides fresh insights into both fields. Far from the localism emphasized by much of recent Garveyism historiography, followers of the movement in Britain were closely connected to their fellow Garveyites distributed around the globe. Meanwhile, although recent literature on the transnational character of Black Britain has detailed the activism of relatively elite figures and groups, the presence of Garveyism in port areas elucidates an alternative vein of diasporic Black political culture among working-class seafaring communities extending beyond the capital. Far from the parochial victims portrayed in much historiography, Black people living in Britain's ports were deeply invested in the global project of Garveyism. Through their travels, readings of and writings to the UNIA's Negro World newspaper, and participation in sophisticated aural and visual cultures, Garveyites in Britain connected their struggles to a mass diasporic movement which profoundly altered global Black politics.

On the reconstruction of prehistoric social territories: The La Désirade lithic workshops and the distribution of La Désirade chert (French West Indies)

The widespread presence of raw materials suitable for the production of stone tools on the south-eastern part of La Désirade, a small island east of Guadeloupe (French West Indies), is an interesting feature as these materials cannot be obtained on most of the neighbouring limestone islands. Small amounts of lithic off-site material have been found all over the south-eastern part of La Désirade, indicating that this area was incidentally used for the exploitation of local raw materials for the production of lithic artefacts. Concentrated and repeated activity, related to the exploitation of La Désirade chert, took place at four lithic workshops.
 This paper aims to reconstruct social and economic patterns, which may shed a light on prehistoric Amerindian territoriality and mobility, based on the exploitation and distribution of this local raw material. An inventory was made of sites where La Désirade chert was exploited and worked and of sites where this material showed up in the form of worked items.
 The La Désirade chert has been found in several prehistoric site assemblages outside La Désirade itself. However, it turns out to have a very restricted distribution, not exceeding 30 km distances from the raw material occurrences. The authors concluded that exploiting these sources may have been embedded in the general procurement strategy of the seafaring communities involved and that the observed distribution may demonstrate the extent of the territory of closely related communities that exploited a similar catchment area.

Impact of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) on Seafarers’ Life and Well-Being

This research paper aims to identify the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting travel restrictions to seafarers, either onboard or whose embarkations have been delayed.
 Two questionnaires were prepared, specific to the seafaring category. Four hundred onboard seafarers completed the survey, as did 100 waiting to embark. The demographic of the respondents represents the global seafaring community. The findings show that both categories have been and continue to be affected by the prevailing circumstances and have substantial concerns about the physical, mental and economic wellbeing of themselves, their families and colleagues.
 Given their views that the pandemic will continue for some time to come, it is concluded that employee welfare and freedom of movement must be addressed in a systemic manner by industry and governments alike

Strategi Raya Sriwijaya dan Melaka

This study attempted to explore the political strategy of two Malay kingdoms, Srivijaya and Malacca, which was seen from the theory of grand strategy. The library research was used to address the main question of grand strategy from two kingdoms. Malacca seemed to continue how did Srivijaya manage the geopolitical balance in the Straits of Malacca. If Srivijaya sent their embassies to the major kingdoms in Asia, Malacca did the same. Malacca also negotiated the friendly relations to the Pasai and Ming Dynasty of Cina. Social life either during Srivijayan or Malaccan times depended on maritime activities. Both kingdoms initiated an alliance with the seafaring communities, seamen, and pirates, to decrease the trading risk and attracted the merchants to populate both port-cities. These historical patterns are not merely a public memory but an invaluable lesson for national defense for this country.

Frequency of use – the First Step Toward Human-Centred Interfaces for Marine Navigation Systems

This article presents research on how frequently seafarers utilise functions and information available on an Integrated Navigation System to perform navigation duties. Using an online questionnaire, the study collected data from 601 members of the global seafaring community. The results provide an overview of the frequency of use for each feature, together with factors affecting the use and associated usability issues. The study finds that the use of navigation equipment is situation-dependent and affected by administrative factors, experience and professional habits, characteristics of the sailing area, traffic conditions, weather conditions, ship management factors and geographical location. Additionally, information overload, particularly with overlay and alert management functions, was found to be the major issue with existing systems. The findings of this study can be applied to improve menu tree structure, display layout, and interaction methods on the interface of navigation systems, such as making frequently-used features more readily available or easier to access.

The British Civil Wars at Sea, 1638–1653. By Richard J. Blakemore and Elaine Murphy. Boydell. 2018. xiv + 225pp. £65.00

The British Civil Wars at Sea, 1638–1653. By Richard J. Blakemore and Elaine Murphy. Boydell. 2018. xiv + 225pp. £65.00

From Communal to Independent Manhood in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, ca. 1760-1820

This article discusses understandings of manhood in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. By means of the voluminous diary kept by Simeon Perkins, a man of local prominence, it explores the social responses within this rural seafaring community to how men chose strategies for gaining social status, exercising public power, and juggling private interest and public service. Across northeastern North America, capitalist ideals of independent manhood were gradually replacing moral ideals of communal manhood, which ultimately strained networks of reciprocity both within and outside the family. Yet by placing Perkins alongside Benajah Collins, another prominent Liverpudlian, this article also reveals that those who drifted too far from morally grounded communal ideals of manhood continued to find themselves ostracized within their immediate communities.

The time is ripe for a change. The evolution of harvesting technologies in Central Dalmatia during the Neolithic period (6th millennium cal BC)

The Dalmatian coast has been occupied by Neolithic seafaring communities since the beginning of the 6th millennium BC. On the basis of pottery styles, a transition between the Impressed Ware and Danilo culture is defined, around 5300 cal BC. Nevertheless, bioarchaeological and archaeological data indicate general continuity between the two periods. In the current paper, we present an integrated technological and use-wear study of a large selection of lithics from several sites of both inland and insular Dalmatia. The results provide strong evidence for a change in harvesting techniques between the Impressed Ware and Danilo cultural phases. This change can be related to the pursuit of better performing inserts that could be used for longer periods and would be quicker to resharpen. Such a switch may have been associated with an initial increase in agricultural production during the Middle Neolithic.

Reflections on the Psycho-social Distress within the International Merchant Navy Seafaring Community

The objective of this paper is to analyse texts mostly from the international scholarship on psycho-social distress that seafarers are faced within the international merchant navy. It is in the seafaring context that this paper explores some of the distressing situations which the seafarer is faced with in the workplace and the impact of this on their performance and personal wellbeing. Netography methodology was utilised as the primary source for data. In addition, primary data were sourced from maritime websites; maritime online newspapers; online journals; and social media. The secondary data was accessed from maritime books and maritime newspapers. The conclusion drawn was that distress; multiculturalism, cultural, language, gender diversity; lack of interaction with family and friends; loneliness; and fatigue all can have a negative impact on how seafarers cope in the merchant navy. The paper suggests access and intervention from the helping services profession such as social workers and psychologists to enhance seafarers coping capacity.

Seafaring life, shipboard routine and Temperance propaganda in mid-nineteenth century American whaling communities as depicted in Francis Allyn Olmsted’s Incidents of a Whaling Voyage (1841)

This research note is designed to shed light on seafaring life during the first half of the nineteenth century by examining a contemporary work, Incidents of a whaling voyage by F. A. Olmsted (1841). Olmsted recorded the shipboard routine of both an American whaler and a merchantman over the course of a sixteen-month voyage, resulting in a rich description of the ships and their crews. His personal conviction regarding abstinence from alcohol also provides insights into the Temperance movement in this period. The result is a unique source for the study of seafaring life and material culture in mid-nineteenth century American seafaring communities as seen through the lens of a young educated physician from Connecticut.

Harry O’Connell, maritime labour and the racialised politics of place

This article explores the forms of activism forged by seafarers’ organisers from the Caribbean in interwar Britain to problematise dominant ways of thinking about ‘race’, labour and place. It focuses on Guyanese Harry O’Connell, who was to become one of the most prominent organisers of Cardiff’s multiethnic seafaring community in the 1920s and 1930s. He was influential in struggles against the forms of ‘white labourism’ adopted by the National Union of Seamen. A committed Communist, O’Connell drew on the networks of the Comintern-affiliated International of Seamen and Harbour Workers (ISH) and International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers (ITUCNW) to contest such white labourism, whilst simultaneously negotiating the racialised forms of internationalism constituted through Communist networks. The piece contributes to a broader ‘reparative’ approach to history which explores the terms on which labour, space and place are articulated.

Local and global: Seafaring communities in the North Sea area, c. 1600–2000

A seafaring community is a village, a small town or a neighbourhood where a substantial part of the population earns its livelihood wholly or partly by work at sea or is directly dependent on seafaring. A seafaring community can arise because an established population at a particular locality increasingly takes up seafaring, or it can be created by the settlement of a sizeable number of seafaring immigrants. The former type of community might be called ‘endogenous’, the latter one ‘exogenous’. This essay analyses in what respect seafaring communities of these two types (or mixtures between them) in the North Sea area changed over time and in what ways these changes were connected to larger, transnational processes or to local conditions. It examines three periods of great transformation: the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries; the period between about 1850 and the First World War; and the last decades of the twentieth century. The story of endogenous seafaring communities in the North Sea area differed from the story of exogenous communities in many ways. While seafaring communities in villages and small towns vanished in one region and emerged in another, social differentiation within communities increased as well, with shipmasters organising separately from common seamen; eventually, this type of seafaring community disappeared in the late twentieth century. Seafaring communities in big port cities, by contrast, thanks to immigration, continued to exist, although this category, too, has seen shifts in geography in the last 150 years, notably from Amsterdam and London to Rotterdam and Hamburg; moreover, the origin of immigrant seamen vastly changed. This article offers several explanations for these changes and variations.

The West Coast of India and the Maritime World of the Western Indian Ocean

This paper highlights the role of the fishing and sailing communities in the maritime world of the Western Indian Ocean. The focus is on the Western Coastal Plain extending from the present state of Gujarat in the north through Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. Drawing on information provided by the Periplus Maris Erythraei on local boats plying the region, the paper discusses cross-cultural contacts amongst the diverse communities who traversed the sea lanes as sailing crew, merchants, religious clergy, etc. The history of these communities is evident from archaeological data and inscriptions recording donations that they made to religious establishments. A second focus of the paper relates to the role of religious institutions in providing identity to the seafaring communities and as adjudicator of social relations. The religious landscape influenced the maritime system in several ways, from moulding cultural preferences and choices to active participation. Religious shrines were both consumers of a variety of commodities used in ritual, such as incense, oil, and textiles, as well as important locales for trading activity as indicated by shops and markets within or in the vicinity of temple premises from the ninth to tenth centuries onwards. Inscriptions also indicate several instances of differential tax on commodities required for religious purposes. The picture that emerges is that of a diverse religious landscape patronised by varied communities.

The Binds of the Anxious Mariner: Patriarchy, Paternalism, and the Maritime Culture of Eighteenth-Century Bermuda

AbstractThis essay examines the roles and social responsibilities of mariners (ship captains and mates) through a close study of eighteenth-century Bermuda’s merchant marine. Challenging studies focused on ordinary seamen which mainly portray ship captains in negative, oppositional ways, this article instead explores links between the crews of typical small intercolonial trading vessels. Bermudian mariners had complex, reciprocal relationships with both the free and enslaved men who worked under them and with the broader maritime community that they served. Because Bermuda’s merchant marine resembled that of many other Anglo-American seaports, the portrait of the mariner that emerges for this island helps us better understand American seafaring culture and communities generally.