Maritime terrorism

Maritime terrorism remains a key issue on the maritime security agenda, notably following the attack on the Achille Lauro in 1985, and subsequently the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon in the United States of America. Despite data suggesting that maritime terrorism is an objectively small threat compared to international terrorism, cases of maritime terror detailed herein evidence the need for this issue to remain on the maritime security agenda. Indeed, the case studies provided of the Achille Lauro incident, and the USS Cole attack in 2000 (although not a frequent element of the responsible groups’ modus operandi) demonstrate how devastating such attacks can be when they occur, while those perpetrated more habitually by groups indicate the impacts of sustained attack for the economies and coastal communities of the affected states. This chapter thus sketches the emergence of maritime terrorism as an important concern in maritime security debates, considers what maritime terrorism is, what might take terrorists to sea, and what risks are posed in the maritime domain by terrorists, before discussing measures available to address maritime terrorism, and then laying out the abovementioned case studies.