MARITIME CRIME

RESEARCH

A SURGE in piracy off the coast of Somalia during the mid-2000s threatened global trade and other state interests to such an extent that an unprecedented global counter-response was mobilised. Navies formed coalitions, while public-private partnerships combated the more farreaching effects.

Carina Bruwer, a PhD candidate with the Centre of Criminology at UCT, is investigating why other maritime crimes have not resulted in a similar response and how this threatens the achievement of the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Bruwer’s recent research unpacked the ways in which transnational organised crime at sea threatens a number of the UN SDGs and how, despite this, people do not seem driven to confront it with the same vigour they did piracy.

Despite various international legal instruments that try to regulate what happens at sea, the oceans remain something of a legal void.

“This research is of topical relevance for our understanding of the complex challenges confronting international responses to transnational organised crime,” said Bruwer’s supervisor and head of the Department of Public Law, Professor Elrena van der Spuy.

“The thesis provides rich descriptive detail regarding international coalitions and the kinds of conditions under which they become possible.”

Initially, Bruwer’s PhD posed the question: Why does a crime like piracy receive such a quick response while other maritime crimes slip under the radar?

“Obviously, these pirate attacks were impacting major shipping nations,” she explains.