02 November 2013

Editorial: ReCAAPing Asia’s Fight Against Pirates

By Ankit Panda

The Indo-Pacific high seas don’t immediately bring international cooperation to mind. Indeed, most of what is newsworthy along Asia’s maritime frontier has to do with impressive new submarines or disputes over where one state’s exclusive economic zone ends and another’s begins. Despite the many sources of friction in these waters, broad multilateral security cooperation does exist – surprising though that may be to some – in the form of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).
ReCAAP doesn’t often find its way into the mainstream news, but those in the commercial shipping industry know it well. Its prime mandate is to fight back against pirates, and maintain open access to Asia’s sea lines of communication (SLOCs). In its own words, it strives to "serve as a platform for information exchange,” "facilitate communications and information exchange among participating governments,” "analyse and prove accurate statistics of the piracy and armed robbery incidents to foster better understanding of the situation in Asia,” "facilitate capacity building efforts that help improve the capability of member countries in combating piracy and armed robbery,” and "cooperate with organisations and like-minded parties." 

Read the full story at The Diplomat