On 18 and 19 June 2012, the IFSH hosted in cooperation with the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce the final conference for the PiraT project entitled ‘Piracy and Terrorism as a Challenge for Maritime Trade Security – Conclusions and Recommendations’. Collaborators of the four sub-projects presented their results as part of the joint research venture funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, that lasted for a total duration of two years and nine months, to end in December 2012. More than 100 participants attended, including representatives of academia, public authorities and ministries, shipping and insurance companies, associations and trade unions as well as private security companies.
After the opening remarks by Ulrich Brehmer of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and Eckhard Curtius, a senior government official at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Dr Hans-Georg Ehrhart delivered an introductory presentation about the project and its partners. Having familiarized the audience with the current risk levels posed by piracy and maritime terrorism, Kerstin Petretto and Dr Patricia Schneider moderated the following two panels of DIW and BLS.
During the final panel, Dr Hans-Georg Ehrhart (IFH) presented courses of action for state actors related to security policy, whilst Heinz-Dieter Jopp (ISZA) offered the results of the future development analysis. A German strategy for maritime security and more transparency regarding the responsibilities of German authorities hence seems indispensable. In the case of Somalia,strategies should primarily be orientated on local contexts and necessities, whilst above all, cooperation with the coastal regions concerned should be accordingly accelerated. Prof. Dr Michael Brzoska (IFSH) moderated the final discussion.
The results of the project PiraT will be published within the next half a year in the form of further research papers (available free of charge on www.maritimesicherheit.eu) and a book entitled Piracy and Maritime Terrorism as a Challenge to Germany’s Maritime Trade Security: Politics, Law, Economy, Technology (to be published by Nomos Verlag in German in early 2013).