A Network of Maritime Fusion Centers Throughout the Indo-Pacific

By |2021-02-11T15:39:08-10:00February 11th, 2021|

By Deon Canyon PhD DBA MPH FACTM, Capt. Wade Turvold, U. S. Navy (Ret.) Capt. Jim McMullin, U.S. Navy* Summary Indo-Pacific maritime initiatives are urgently required to meet growing transboundary threats to international security. The establishment of a national maritime fusion center in the U.S. and a network of similar centers across the Indo-Pacific region would significantly advance maritime security cooperation. The lack of such centers hinders all nations from effectively developing a common operating picture that is required to protect the rules-based international order. This network must be empowered collectively to strengthen international law. Our ever-increasingly complex world changed [...]

Maritime Domain Awareness and Maritime Fusion Centers

By |2020-10-01T16:35:16-10:00October 1st, 2020|

This article emphasizes the importance of maritime domain awareness (MDA) and the coordinating efforts of maritime fusion centers (MFC) to support those efforts. Excerpt The essential mission of a MFC is to strengthen MDA by gathering and analyzing data from multiple sources, fusing it into meaningful information, and disseminating actionable intelligence to operational commanders to directly improve national security, safety, economy, and environment. Not all maritime centers source data broadly enough to make fusion meaningful, and not all attempt to adequately fuse data to extrapolate new intelligence. Some of these agencies only focus on internal monitoring and have little to [...]

Ships Become Dangerous Places During a Pandemic

By |2020-05-05T13:31:19-10:00May 5th, 2020|

In this paper, Wade Turvold and Jim McMullin illustrate the difficulties of life aboard ocean-going vessels and cite historic cases of how onboard ventilation systems and close-quarters living conditions have contributed to the spread of contagious diseases, including COVID-19. Excerpt: “Due to their unique features, ships become particularly dangerous places during times of pandemic. The outbreaks in the USS Leviathan and the MV Diamond Princess both point to the same lesson. Ships with their characteristically crowded conditions, small spaces, and poor ventilation increase the transmission rate of breath-borne respiratory illnesses. “ View/Download Document

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