Establishment of a Maritime Law Enforcement Presence on Kiritimati Island of Kiribati

It may not be commonly known to people around the world that Kiribati possesses the 12th largest Exclusive Economic Zone, with a sea area close to 3.5 million km2 and a coastline of 1,143km. Made up of three distinct island groups - the Gilbert Islands, the Line Islands, and the Phoenix Islands, Kiribati also manages the second largest Marine Protected Area in the Pacific Ocean, known as the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. This partly explains why the country encounters great challenges in ensuring maritime safety and security in its vast waters.

In January 2018, Kiribati faced its worst maritime incident when an overloaded catamaran sank, killing 95 people and sending a strong reminder to the whole region of the importance of maritime safety and law enforcement. What was most alarming at the time was how the ship sank not far from Nonouti - the island where it departed from, but no one was aware until six days later, no distress message was sent, and no emergency locator beacon was activated. The ship also never reported its location, so there was little information for the search and rescue team to work on, given the huge search area[1]. This real-life tragedy emphasizes Kiribati’s strong need for adequate maritime equipment and Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) technology to help the country effectively monitor and address maritime issues in its waters.

For this reason, the Global Maritime Crime Programme (GMCP) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has been working with Kiribati and other Island Countries in the Pacific to strengthen their maritime law enforcement capabilities, as well as regional coordination and maritime cooperation. In a recent site inspection visit to Tarawa of Kiribati, GMCP found that there is limited and irregular maritime law enforcement presence across the Line Islands group, making this area extremely vulnerable to maritime criminality. Currently, the Maritime Unit under Kiribati Police Service is responsible for law enforcement at sea, and is based in the capital city of Tarawa, while the country’s 33 islands extend all across the Pacific. Hence, in order to enhance the Police Maritime capabilities in other regions, GMCP is supporting the Kiribati Police Service establish a Police Maritime Unit on Kiritimati Island (Christmas Island). Notably, this island lies at the most eastern part of the country; thus, the establishment of a Police Maritime Unit on Kiritimati Island will for the first time ever provide a permanent presence of maritime law enforcement in the Line Islands region.

A current initiative being supported by UNODC GMCP under this project is to deliver an air-conditioned Shipping Container Office Space and Marine Band VHF Transceiver and Antenna to Kiritimati Island to establish the maritime outpost. This has been a challenging endeavour given the remote location of the island, but GMCP is committed to implement the project and prove its ability in delivering support activities in the remotest parts of the Pacific Ocean.

In the next phase of the project, GMCP plans to install a terrestrial Automatic Identification System (AIS) Receiver on Kiritimati and link it to the maritime surveillance centre in Tarawa.  This low-cost solution will help maritime law enforcement agencies in Kiribati effectively locate an AIS-transmitting vessel, trace the routes of the vessel, and detect irregularity in the vessel’s behavior patterns through the use of AIS satellite-based data. The AIS satellite system also provides global coverage, therefore, it can prove to be useful for Pacific island countries like Kiribati with a large Exclusive Economic Zone. AIS data not only helps maritime law enforcement agencies quickly locate vessels of interest, but also supports in the detection of ‘dark’ vessels that purposely turn off their signal. This can provide law enforcement agencies with valuable information with regards to vessels that may be engaging in illicit activities, such as those related to drug trafficking in the Pacific.

Through the delivery of these initiatives, GMCP aims to enhance the MDA and maritime law enforcement capabilities of Kiribati and other island countries to timely address incidents at sea, while also effectively countering maritime crime across the Pacific region.

[1] Litany of failures led to Kiribati ferry tragedy - inquiry report.  Radio New Zealand, 8 Oct 2019.