2.9 Chapter Summary
3.1.2 External MLE resource assignment infrastructure
As discussed earlier, all physical infrastructure elements dealing with the assignment of MLE resources reside in the external MLE resource assignment infrastructure functional element class in Figure 3.1(h). Five major components that are relevant to MLE response selection operations have been identified. These are a geographical information system model of the jurisdiction area, used to define clear boundaries at sea and to incorporate rules and regulations that are applicable within these boundaries; a set of decision making entities comprising the various MLE resource assignment role players of a coastal nation; an MLE fleet of resources comprising one or more classes of units, each class possessing a clear, unique set of attributes and capabilities as well as a parent decision entity; a set of MLE resource assignment bases providing various types of essential services to idle MLE resources; and a set of pre-defined circuits used for patrol purposes. These five components are described in more detail in this section.
The jurisdiction area
The set of the maritime zones, as defined in the UNCLOS [151], should be used as a guideline to define the maritime law enforcement boundaries of a coastal nation. These boundaries should therefore at the very least enclose the territorial seas, the contiguous zone and the exclusive economic zone as jurisdiction areas, but these areas may be subdivided or refined further, as required by the coastal nation in question in order to meet specific MLE goals. Farina et al. [55], for example, simulate a maritime border control environment with an off-limit zone and a warning zone, measured at 20 km and 50 km from the coastal baseline, respectively. The jurisdiction area of a coastal nation may be modelled using shape-lines generated by standard Geographic Information System software packages.
The decision entities
As mentioned in §1.2, it is typically the case that the entire MLE response selection process of a coastal nation is not conducted by a centralised operator assisted by a single DSS, but is rather orchestrated by multiple role players, called MLE decision entities. These decision entities may perceive the quality of MLE response selection operations in their own, different ways, as they each tend to pursue their own goals and subjective perceptions of what is deemed important while carrying out MLE operations. In particular, these decision entities may perceive the threatening intensity of VOIs differently, function largely independently from one another, follow their own guidelines, and utilise their own subsets of MLE resources.
The South African Navy, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) and the De- partment of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) are three examples of major decision entities in the South African MLE environment [49]. While the South African Navy specialises in investigating and neutralising acts of piracy, threats to sovereignty1 and terrorism threats,
SAMSA specialises in investigating and neutralising incidents of pollution, accidents at sea and hazardous vessel threats, while DAFF resources specialise in investigating and neutralising illegal fishing threats. Sometimes these decision entities function independently and sometimes they collaborate. For example, the South African Navy and SAMSA often combine their resources when investigating and neutralising smuggling and illegal immigration threats.
The MLE resources
MLE operations require law enforcement resources capable of neutralizing a variety of threats at sea. These resources perform differently, depending on their physical characteristics (such as size, maximum speed, manpower on board, weapon system infrastructure and other defense mechanisms, autonomy at sea, and set-up time). Here, the speed of a resource influences its ability to intercept VOIs effectively, while its weapon system infrastructure and other defense mechanisms determine its effectiveness with respect to neutralising threats. The autonomy of a resource refers to its ability to be self-sufficient at sea for an extended period of time while on a mission, whilst its set-up time refers to the time required to prepare the resource for departure on a mission.
The optimal resource fleet composition of MLE resources is not addressed as part of this MLE resource assignment problem; the set of MLE resources at the disposal of a coastal nation is normally assumed fixed and, consequently, the fixed costs associated with the acquisition of MLE 1A foreign warship arriving unannounced in the jurisdiction area of a coastal nation constitutes a threat to
3.1. Functional elements in an MLE environment 61
resources are external to the problem. The variable (set-up and operating) costs associated with these resources are, however, taken into consideration.
The simulator proposed by Farina et al. [55], for example, incorporates two types of resources, namely a helicopter and a patrol boat. Here, the resource response time is calculated based on the velocity of the target and the resource parameters. The system considers the current MLE resources available in order to select an appropriate resource to be dispatched to intercept the target. The resource parameters considered in [55] are availability, speed, inspection time and departure time.
The MLE resource bases
A base may be defined as a facility providing the necessary re-supplying, stationing and main- tenance services to MLE resources. Every base is typically unique with respect to certain characteristics that are relevant to resource assignment operations, such as size, accessibility or geographical location. These characteristics, combined with external factors, may have a significant impact on the way MLE resource assignment operations are conducted. Bases may be classified as either inland, coastal or deployable. Inland bases are usually accessible to only certain types of MLE resources if connected to the maritime jurisdiction area via a network of rivers, or only accessible to aerial MLE resources otherwise. Coastal bases are located at fixed locations along a coastline and provide a vast range of services to a variety of MLE resource types. Finally, deployable bases have the ability to be dispatched in both time and space, from where they, themselves, may dispatch fixed sets of MLE resources associated with the particular bases.
The work of Malik et al. [91], for example, deals with the optimal allocation of MLE resources distributed amongst three stations (bases) to undertake assignments in the Great Lakes region of North America. The study focused on determining the spatial and temporal distribution of response cases and their assorted MLE resources for all search and rescue operations and how closing any one of these three stations may affect the workload of the other stations that would subsequently be required to absorb the additional tasks. It was concluded that the closure of auxiliary stations would imply longer response times, which may potentially translate into the loss of lives and property. Overall, the DSS in place allowed users to conduct a sensitivity analysis by determining the change in risks associated with closing certain stations in terms of the success rate of search and rescue operations in the medium and long run.
The patrol circuits
In an MLE environment, the notion of patrol may be described as the strategic allocation of idle MLE resources in specific regions of the jurisdiction area. A patrol circuit may be any pre- defined maritime zone boundary, route or singular point to which an idle MLE resources may be assigned strategically. A patrolling MLE resource typically breaks away from its designated patrol circuit as a result of one of the following occurrences: (a) the MLE resource has travelled further than a certain maximum distance threshold and is re-allocated to performing a different task, (b) the MLE resource has travelled for more than a pre-determined maximum amount of time since it was last re-supplied and is therefore re-allocated to performing a different task, (c) the MLE resource is assigned a mission to intercept one or more VOIs (i.e. the MLE resource transits from an idle state to an active state) or (d) an operator decides to re-allocate the MLE resource to a different patrol circuit or to a base for any reasons other than the occurrences (a) and (b) above.
Shieh et al. [129], for example, introduce an interesting game theoretic DSS premised on an attacker-defender Stackelberg game model, where the adversary is defined as an individual with ties to al-Qa’ida. This DSS has been deployed by the US Coast Guard to schedule patrols around the port of Boston. The DSS is currently in the process of being deployed around the port of New York as well.