DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT OF MARITIME SECURITY FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF IMO

Atsuko Kanehara, Research Director, made a presentation for The 49th Annual Conference on Oceans Law & Policy (COLP49) , ”Maritime Security in the Mediterranean Sea & Beyond-Panel IIIA: Maritime Security and the IMO” in Athens, 21-22 September, 2026, Her presentation is entitled, “DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT OF MARITIME SECURITY FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF IMO.”

First, she confirmed the clear tendency in both international and domestic society to understand (maritime) security in a wider sense, with introduction of Japan’s case.
Second, she discussed the merits and agenda that the widened concept of (maritime) security may produce.

There are merits, Recognition of various kinds of danger (threats), Sharing such danger (threats), and Preparation for prevention of such danger (threats).

At the same time, we are facing agenda that the (maritime) security in wider sense may produce.

Under the wider concept of (maritime) security, various interests are at stake, such as military, economic, and energy interests. When plural interests conflict with each other, and when the measures to be taken for the realization of security are contradict to each other, how to reconcile them?

Integrated decision making is indispensable in both international and domestic society, for deciding the priority among the various interests at stake, and to take measures in the most efficient manner for achievement of security.

As a member of the Bord of Governor for the International Maritime Law Institute of the UN IMO, she further examined expected contribution by IMO to realizing maritime security in the world.

Member of the Compass Voice-Japan Coast Guard Expert Network

【Related Works by Research Director Atsuko Kanehara】

• Atsuko Kanehara, “The Concept of Security (in Japanese),” https://cigs.canon/article/20250212_8639.html
• Atsuko Kanehara, “The Protection of Submarine Cables and Pipelines in Armed Conflict in the Indo-Pacific,” in Douglas Guilfoyle and Jennifer Maddocks eds., Armed Conflict and International Law in the Indo-Pacific Region, Part I, Chapter 8.
• Atsuko Kanehara, “Factors Producing “Grey Zones” in Maritime Security,”
  https://cigs.canon/en/article/20250728_9061.html
• Atsuko Kanehara, “Reconsideration of the Distinction Between the Use of Arms in Law Enforcement and the Use of Force Prohibited by International Law - With an Analysis of the Inherent Significance of This Issue to Japan-,” Japan Review, Vol. 5 (2023), JapanReview_Vol5_02_ Kanehara.pdf (jiia-jic.jp).
• Atsuko Kanehara, “Covid-19 and the Law of the Sea: Japan’s Port State Jurisdiction in Relation to the Diamond Princess,” Japanese Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 64 (2021), pp. 233-245.
• Atsuko Kanehara, “The Use of Force in Maritime Security and the Use of Arms in Law Enforcement under the Current Wide Understanding of Maritime Security,” Japan Review, Vol. 3, No. 2 (2019), JapanReview_Vol3_No2_05_Kanehara.pdf (jiia-jic.jp).