The Enhancing Asia Maritime Security and Confidence Building Measures Seminar, held in Singapore on January 26, 2010, underscored the enormous challenges faced by nations to maintain comprehensive security in the oceans.  

This is especially so in Asian waters which contain some of the world’s most important shipping lanes and strategic sea lines of communications (SLOCs).  

The seminar provided a platform for the meeting of the minds for around 60 representatives of principal navies with interest in the Asian region and academicians and researchers to discuss these issues and examine other risks, concerns, challenges and prospects related to maritime security in the regional seas.  

Discussion at the seminar was divided in three sessions addressing the challenges faced in fulfilling the massive task of enhancing maritime security and promoting Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in Asian seas, and the multiplicity of factors and actors involved.  

The first session was themed Maritime Security in Asia: A Global Assessment which featured presentations on the traditional and non-traditional issues in maritime security, the strategic implications of maritime security for Asia Pacific, and a European perspective on maritime security in Asia.  

The broad tone of the presentations in the session set the stage for a more detailed discussion of regional naval developments in the following session on the Modernisation of Asian Navies and the Submarine Factor. Presenters in this session deliberated the pros and cons of the submarine race among Asian navies and the potential impact on the balance of power and strategic calculations in regional waters.  

The third and last session was on Confidence Building Measures: Challenges and Prospects. This session heard presenters sharing their thoughts on measures undertaken to build confidence among ASEAN navies, in the context of naval cooperation, preventive diplomacy and maritime security.

Contemporary maritime security dynamics and realities demand navies to play roles and undertake activities beyond their traditional blue water confines. This is especially so in the vast Asian region which encompasses strategic maritime areas such as South East Asia and East Asia. More than ever, navies of nations in these regions are expected to operate beyond their territorial waters to protect their interests and the sovereignty of their countries. This point was strongly emphasised throughout the seminar amid open and frank discussions among senior naval officers and leading scholars in the field of maritime security and diplomacy.