This timely book by Michael Richardson provides a useful overview of the current issues and trends in the field of maritime security; he also provides some practical recommendations to strengthen overall security and to rectify some grave weaknesses in the system. Both practitioners and the public will find his book an interesting and timely warning of the potential dangers of mass-casualty maritime terrorism. Richardson clearly highlights some linkages between piracy and maritime terrorism. With land-based targets harder to get at, the attention of terrorist groups could turn to the maritime sector.

Mega-hub ports and major container terminals, such as Singapore, are vulnerable to trade disruptions and blockages of access to sealanes. Such disruptions caused by maritime terrorism will be very damaging to their economies and to the global economy. The example of the impact of maritime terrorism on the Port of Aden, in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the French tanker Limburg, demonstrates that even a failed attack can devastate a port economy. Fully alerted to the dangers, Singapore and some other ports in the region have adopted strong security measures to increase port security. These include the rule that large cargo vessels and passenger ships must be fitted with automatic identification systems that can transmit data to port authorities. Singapore has gone further in requiring all vessels, including small harbour crafts, to be fitted with such transponders. Thus, Singapore will be one of the first countries to be classified by the IMO as a secure port, which means that ships sailing from here will have no problems going to another port.

Much of the world's oil exports and trade pass through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. The littoral states, and the international community at large, are acutely aware of the dangers of both these waterways becoming choke-points to maritime trade in the event of terrorist actions undertaken at sea.