First Results on Wake Detection in SAR Images by Deep Learning

Spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) represents a powerful source of data for enhancing maritime domain awareness (MDA). Wakes generated by traveling vessels hold a crucial role in MDA since they can be exploited both for ship route and velocity estimation and as a marker of ship presence. Even if deep learning (DL) has led to an impressive performance boost on a variety of computer vision tasks, its usage for automatic target recognition (ATR) in SAR images to support MDA is still limited to the detection of ships rather than ship wakes. A dataset is presented in this paper and several state-of-the-art object detectors based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are tested with different backbones. The dataset, including more than 250 wake chips, is realized by visually inspecting Sentinel-1 images over highly trafficked maritime sites. Extensive experiments are shown to characterize CNNs for the wake detection task. For the first time, a deep-learning approach is implemented to specifically detect ship wakes without any a-priori knowledge or cuing about the location of the vessel that generated the wake. No annotated dataset was available to train deep-learning detectors on this task, which is instead presented in this paper. Moreover, the benchmarks achieved for different detectors point out promising features and weak points of the relevant approaches. Thus, the work also aims at stimulating more research in this promising, but still under-investigated, field.

Part II Predominant Security Challenges and International Law, International Security, Ch.16 Maritime Security

This chapter discusses maritime security, reviewing relevant law of the sea concepts. The modern law of the sea encompasses both functional and zonal approaches: the question of the law applicable to any situation thus involves analysis of both the activity in question and where it is conducted. Several traditional law of the sea enforcement techniques are also being adapted to new challenges. Principal amongst these is the doctrine of port State jurisdiction. The chapter then surveys a number of challenges in the maritime domain. It looks at three major themes cutting across these various silos. The first is Maritime Domain Awareness; if the law of the sea regulates who may do what and where, then a challenge for enforcement is knowing who is doing what and where. The second theme is the turn to informality. Most new maritime security initiatives do not involve creating new organizations or legal instruments; responses to collective or regional challenges tend now to occur through informal coalitions. Finally, the broadening of maritime security brings a wider range of non-State or ‘grey zone’ actors into the picture, including migrants, seafarers, transnational criminals, and hybrid private/State actors such as the Chinese maritime militia.

Maritime Security Cooperation: From Mistrust to Trust in the Indian Ocean Region

Home to one fifth of the world’s waterbody, the Indian Ocean is abundant with a variety of mineral and biological resources. As the ocean space housing one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, it is crucial that its natural resources and its environment are safeguarded. In ancient times, this ocean space has been an area of great cooperation, however, in present times the Indian Ocean has been largely confounded by distrust. The problem under study in this research was: even though the Indian Ocean Region is an extremely important and highly utilised ocean space that a vast majority of the world relies on, there is inadequate cooperation between the littoral states as well as the extra-regional states in ensuring the waterbody is safe. As such, the objectives of this research were to analyse why there is inadequate cooperation within the Indian Ocean Region; and to analyse how the Indian Ocean littoral countries and its users can cooperate with one another in ensuring maritime security cooperation. Primary sources for the qualitative research included policy documents and correspondence whilst secondary data included newspaper articles, reputed journals and websites. The data gathered from these sources were coded to derive the analysis in this research. As present challenges are diverse and dynamic, countries are singularly unable to ensure ocean spaces are safe unless they have shared intelligence and information from a variety of stakeholders. The paper argues that Maritime Domain Awareness enables intelligence sharing, as well as in exchanging capabilities and resources. In conclusion, there are many avenues for maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean such as by sharing capabilities, resources and skills. It can also cooperate to eliminate non-traditional security threats, which affects both the littoral states as well as the users of the Indian Ocean.

Using AIS to Attempt a Quantitative Evaluation of Unobserved Trawling Activity in the Mediterranean Sea

In the past decades, the Automatic Identification System (AIS) has been employed in numerous research fields as a valuable tool for, among other things, Maritime Domain Awareness and Maritime Spatial Planning. In contrast, its use in fisheries management is hampered by coverage and transmission gaps. Transmission gaps may be due to technical limitations (e.g., weak signal or interference with other signals) or to deliberate switching off of the system, to conceal fishing activities. In either case such gaps may result in underestimating fishing effort and pressure. This study was undertaken to map and analyze bottom trawler transmission gaps in terms of duration and distance from the harbor with a view to quantifying unobserved fishing and its effects on overall trawling pressure. Here we present the first map of bottom trawler AIS transmission gaps in the Mediterranean Sea and a revised estimate of fishing effort if some gaps are considered as actual fishing.

EARTH OBSERVATION APPLICATIONS FOR GOAL 14: IMPROVING MARITIME DOMAIN AWARENESS USING SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR IMAGING WITH AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippines has acquired access to the NovaSAR-1 satellite developed by Surrey Satellite Technology, Ltd. (SSTL) for the implementation of its project Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) for Innovative Terrestrial Monitoring and Maritime Surveillance, which will provide simultaneous S-band SAR imaging with AIS data for applications targeted on improving maritime domain awareness. The country has inherent challenges in this field due to its archipelagic nature, with earth observation seen as a potential solution as it provides an immediate and wide coverage over designated priority areas. This contributes toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water by providing objective information in support of data-driven decision and policymaking, closing knowledge gaps in monitoring Philippine waters.