Commentary: On the horizon

摘要

The challenge of gaining real situational awareness of our environment is well known to this journal's readers. Spotting, identifying and tracking individuals or vehicles is difficult even when we have sovereign control of the ground and its surrounding air-space. On the many thousands of miles of international waters that cover 70 percent of the earth's surface, the challenge is far more daunting. We are still largely ignorant of anything beyond our visual horizon. To solve this problem, national governments and the commercial maritime industry should redouble their efforts to work in public-private cooperation. Modern ships cruise the world's oceans inside domes of situational awareness that could be linked into a broader security picture by sharing data with maritime security forces. Governments could encourage shipping interests to invest in the necessary communications equipment by giving. them such financial incentives as tax breaks and contractual preferences on government cargo.