Maritime Security Services in SE Asia

To address the diverse maritime security challenges facing areas of the world today, a growing number of PSC's offer a wide range of maritime security services. Being part of the overall process of the privatization of the military and security services, the majority of companies presently operating in the maritime sector in South East Asia emerged after the end of the cold war and increased as a result of 9/11. Many PSC's offering maritime security in the SE Asia region are either linked to or are part of either larger PSC's or transnational corporations outside the security industry. Whilst many of the larger companies are based in the US and the UK, a number of them have established branch offices in the Asian region in recent Years. One example is Hart, which has opened an office in Singapore. A number of smaller companies have been established in the region, such as Background Asia, also in Singapore.

The number of PSC's offering maritime services is rising as clients are increasingly willing to pay for the protection of the maritime assets and employees. Such clients include shop owners, insurance companies, yacht owners, banks, and gas and oil companies with interests in the region. To cater to the needs of all these clients, the services offered are equally diverse. Whilst some companies specialize in the protection of specific assets, most companies offer services for different types of facilities which focus largely on the protection of ports, underwater assets, offshore energy installations and their supply chains, fishing grounds and a large variety of vessels including slow-moving commercial ships, fishing vessels, cruise ships, tugs and navy vessels. In order to guarantee the protection of these often foreign assets, a large variety of specific services id offered by PSC's ranging from risk assessment to crisis management, assistance with security plans and risk analysis consulting services either consisting of general political risk reports published an updated regularly, or client-specific risk assessments. These range fro port or vessel threat assessments and pre-employment screening to crisis management planning.

Services offered address threats posed by smugglers, fraudsters, pirates and terrorists, and prepare companies for accidents and natural hazards. Due to these factors, PSC's have been able to conduct their services in the region in recent years and bring to bare a considerable influence on the protection of assets and assessment of risks in the maritime sector. They also have an impact on the decision-making process in the private and public sector within and outside Southwest Asia.