Why Somalia’s 15 New Maritime Treaties Could Reshape Security in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
Somalia has joined 15 international maritime treaties in the country’s most significant maritime legal reform since independence, strengthening its legal authority over shipping, maritime security, pollution response and counter-smuggling operations in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
MOGADISHU (Somali Report) — Somalia has signed onto 15 international maritime treaties in what officials describe as the country’s biggest overhaul of maritime law since independence, a move that could strengthen its role in securing one of the world’s most strategically important waterways at a time of growing regional instability.
The agreements, deposited with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London, modernize Somalia’s legal framework governing shipping, maritime safety, environmental protection, search and rescue, seafarer certification, maritime security, and the suppression of unlawful acts at sea.
For a country with Africa’s longest mainland coastline and a position overlooking the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean, the reforms represent more than administrative changes. They provide Somalia with internationally recognized legal tools to cooperate with foreign navies, prosecute maritime crimes, and strengthen enforcement within its territorial waters.
The timing is significant.
Since late 2023, the Red Sea has become one of the world’s most volatile shipping corridors after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement launched repeated missile and drone attacks against commercial vessels, claiming solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war.
The attacks prompted a sustained multinational naval response led by the United States and its allies, who have intercepted several vessels suspected of transporting Iranian-made missile components and military equipment destined for Houthi-controlled territory.
Several of those interdictions occurred near Somali waters.
Analysts say pressure on traditional smuggling routes has encouraged traffickers to adapt, using alternative maritime corridors across the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, and waters off the Horn of Africa.
Somalia’s accession to conventions such as the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA) and its 2005 Protocol gives Mogadishu a stronger legal basis to criminalize maritime terrorism, weapons trafficking, and unlawful activities conducted through civilian vessels.
While the treaties do not automatically authorize foreign naval operations inside Somali territorial waters, they establish internationally recognized procedures for cooperation, prosecution, extradition, and legal assistance between states.
Officials say this strengthens Somalia’s sovereignty rather than weakening it.
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Ports and Marine Transport Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur described the agreements as serving Somalia’s diplomatic, commercial, and defense interests while reinforcing the country’s ability to protect its maritime domain.
The government argues that previous legal gaps limited Somalia’s participation in international maritime governance despite its strategic location.
However, legal experts caution that legislation alone will not secure Somalia’s coastline.
The country continues to face significant operational challenges, including limited coast guard capacity, uneven federal authority along parts of the coast, and longstanding smuggling networks operating across clan territories.
Security analysts also note that illicit maritime routes are frequently used for far more than weapons trafficking, including fuel smuggling, human trafficking, piracy, and contraband trade.
Implementation will therefore determine whether the reforms translate into meaningful improvements.
Somalia must still incorporate the conventions into domestic law, strengthen maritime policing institutions, train investigators and prosecutors, and improve coordination with regional and international partners.
If successfully implemented, the reforms could allow Somalia to play a much larger role in securing the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes linking the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
For international partners, the treaties create a stronger legal foundation for maritime cooperation.
For Somalia, they represent an opportunity to move from being a country whose waters are primarily patrolled by foreign navies to one capable of exercising greater legal authority over its own coastline.
Whether that opportunity becomes reality will depend not on the signatures deposited in London, but on Somalia’s ability to enforce the new rules at sea.
About the Author
Fatuma Taxadar Yusuf is the Editor-in-Chief of the Somali Report and a Somali journalist with over a decade of experience in broadcasting and editorial leadership. She has worked with the BBC World Service and other leading media outlets in Somalia. She is also the Deputy Chair of the Somalia Media Council, the independent body regulating media standards and professional conduct in Somalia.