Transport and Security

Air transport plays a central role in the transfer of destabilizing commodities in a variety of conflicts or fragile states in Africa and South America. Research undertaken at SIPRI in the field of air transportation shows that enhanced regulation and monitoring of airspace and cargo companies is a key element for improving security in a number of regions and conflict zones.

Maritime transport accounts for at least 80% of global trade and includes significant quantities of potentially destabilizing commodities such as weapons, narcotics ammunition and other hazardous materials. The monitoring and control as well as the protection of maritime actors is complicated by the trans-national nature of the global shipping industry, flags of convenience and the emergence of non-state actor threats such as piracy. At a time when naval forces are being reduced due to budget cuts imposed as a result of the financial crisis, CIT-MAP maritime transportation research on destabilizing commodity flows focuses on three key areas.

The SIPRI Vessel and Maritime Incident Database (VMID) contains information on vessels involved in destabilizing commodity flows and illicit maritime activities from the 1980's to the present day.