Maritime security ‘stressed’ by threats

The country’s maritime security is ‘‘increasingly stressed’’ by escalating geopolitical tensions, transnational crime, illegal fishing, and rising seas, a new Government strategy says.

Among the major risks within New Zealand’s oceans, described in the new Maritime Security Strategy, are a weakening of the law of the sea, a need to maintain global supply chains, and possible migration due to climate change.

And, in what a security expert has called a ‘‘signalling statement’’ about China, the strategy talks of a greater number of countries attempting to wield influence in the Pacific, which may diminish New Zealand’s standing.

‘‘A proliferation of actors in the Pacific has the potential to impact our role as a partner of choice within the South Pacific.

‘‘Some actors may support or complement our interests, while others may undermine them.’’

The 40-page document was officially launched yesterday at a conference hosted by Victoria University’s Centre for Strategic Studies, after first being published in December without fanfare by the Ministry of Transport.

The strategy details a new model for how government agencies should work together to combat maritime threats, as part of the Government’s broader national security apparatus.

‘‘This reduces the ability of malicious and negligent actors to use the maritime domain to undermine national security interests and objectives,’’ the document said. ‘‘Deterrence has a big part to play in preventing maritime security threats. This is done by convincing potential threat actors that the costs of conducting actions that impact on New Zealand’s maritime security interest outweigh benefits.’’

An example of the type of action taken, contained in the strategy, includes New Zealand officials working with Pacific Island countries to better enforce sanctions against North Koreanlinked vessels.

At the event, Robert Ayson, a strategic studies professor at Victoria University, said it appeared the strategy’s ‘‘deterrence’’ talk would require maritime military alliances, given New Zealand’s limited military means.

He said the deterrence New Zealand could provide at sea appeared to be reliant on law enforcement or regulation.

‘‘I do wonder whether there’s a bit of deterrence on the cheap here . . . To put it more directly: arrest, conviction, fines and possibly imprisonment,’’ he said.

‘‘That’s not fighting talk. That’s, ‘We’ll throw the book at you.’

‘‘How in particular does New Zealand deter unwanted statebased adversaries? . . . This actually means a heavy reliance on international partners.’’

Dr Anna Powles, a Pacific security studies expert at Massey University, said the strategy’s talk of state actors that might undermine

New Zealand interests was a ‘‘signalling statement’’ about China’s role in the Pacific.

‘‘Chinese interests in the Pacific very much include maritime interests,’’ she said. ‘‘Between 2006 and 2019, there were 24 PLA [Chinese military] visits to the Pacific and more than 50 per cent were naval. And since 2012, the Chinese Pacific fishing fleet has grown by more than 500 per cent.’’

Ministry of Transport chief executive Peter Mersi said the threats to New Zealand’s maritime environment were ‘‘changing with