International shipping is estimated to transport more than 80 per cent of global trade to peoples and communities all over the world. Shipping is the most efficient method of international transportation for most goods because it provides a dependable, low-cost means of transporting goods. By facilitating trade and commerce it helps create prosperity among nations and peoples.
Recognising this, an international conference held in Geneva in 1948 established the International Maritime Organization (IMO), an agency under the United Nations with the aim of developing and maintaining a comprehensive regulatory framework for a safe, secure and efficient international shipping industry.
World Maritime Day was celebrated for the first time on March 17, 1978.
The UN issues a theme for its annual celebration. The theme promulgated for World Maritime Day 2022 was ‘New technologies for greener shipping’ to reflect the need to support a green transition of the maritime sector into a sustainable future, while leaving no one behind. The theme provides an opportunity to focus on the importance of a sustainable maritime sector and the need to build back better and greener in a post pandemic world.
Importance of the Indo Pacific Strategic Space:
The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and the South China Sea (SCS) have attained significant strategic relevance in the 21st century for many reasons. More and more global powers want to maintain their presence in the region and claim their stake in the global power play. Extra-regional powers are increasingly deploying their maritime forces and research vessels in the Indo-Pacific region to ensure enhanced Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). This strategic space has many aspects to it, including political, socio-economic, and military. International collaborations are therefore the need of the hour to maintain peace, harmony to harness the assets and resources of this strategic space for the global good. Towards this goal, suitable robust and lasting maritime frameworks need to be set up.
MRC believes that India can be the foundational anchor for Europe and other interested developed nations to collaborate and build purposeful partnerships for mutual benefit.
Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA):
Traditional MDA got a significant push, post the 9/11 incident when the American establishment made MDA a high-priority strategic objective. Massive maritime infrastructure and capacity building efforts started takng shape within the US and through their allies to ensure effective MDA. In India, post the 26/11 incident, similar efforts were initiated and the MDA infrastructure got prioritized in the IOR. However, in both the cases, being event driven initiatives, MDA remained a security-centric formulation with minimal penetration by other stakeholders.
The scope of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) that we see today is largely limited to the sea surface. Even in advanced maritime nations the underwater aspect, termed as Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA) is still a work in progress and needs to be accelerated.
Though Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA) is integral to overall Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), the knowhow required is completely different. It requires specific domain knowledge is to drive a nuanced awareness initiative.
This MRC webinar focussed on highlighting the importance of the UDA.
UDA and the Indo Pacific Strategic Space
The UDA in the tropical littoral waters of the Indo-Pacific Strategic Space has unique challenges and opportunities. Sub optimal sonar performance is the major cause for concern. The socio-economic conditions of the nations of the region and issues relating to maritime governance are compounded by the challenges posed by the inadequacy of advanced scientific knowledge in this field. Since limited expertise and specialised knowledge is presently available in the region it limits the allocation of resources available for indigenous efforts to improve sonar performance. Reliable sonar performance is unquestionably the single most important factor to enhance Underwater Domain Awareness in the Indo Pacific strategic space.
In this resultant vacuum is has been found that extra-regional powers push the sale and use of their existing hardware which is incapable of performing as effectively in the tropical littoral waters as in their own seas. A lot is required to be done to overcome this inadequacy. Unique challenges are faced in tropical waters to enhance UDA. To help address them, the concept of “Digital Oceans” has therefore gained greater relevance in the tropical littoral waters which surround India.
It is the considered opinion of the MRC that its UDA initiative will require complete socio-political and geo-strategic synergy to manage the challenges & opportunities.
The UDA framework proposed by the Maritime Research Centre (MRC), Pune attempts to encourage pooling of resources and synergizing of efforts across the four major stakeholders, namely the maritime security apparatus; blue economy controllers; environment & disaster management organisations and Science & Technology providers. The UDA framework proposed by MRC can minimize the ongoing fragmented approach across stakeholders within the nations and amongst the nations of the region.
Focus areas for Effective UDA
Unarguably, Acoustic Capability and Capacity building becomes the most critical component and the focus for effective UDA. To achieve it geo-economics will play a major role because of the level of globalization that is required to drive the safe, secure, sustainable UDA growth model and effectively manage the challenges and opportunities of strategic security as well as the imperatives of blue economy in the Indo-Pacific Strategic Space.
The Maritime Research Centre (MRC), Pune in collaboration with M/S NirDhwani Technology Pvt Ltd (NDT) hosted this webinar on Sep 29, 2022 on the occasion of the World Maritime Day. The subject for discussions was “Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA) Framework for Effective Blue Frontiers in the Indo-Pacific Strategic Space”
The event brought together Experts and strategists across multiple domains to deliberate on this very important topic, given the ongoing geopolitical and geo-strategic developments in the region. They attempted to identify the gaps and evolve synergy among the stakeholders and policy makers. Whilst Capability and Capacity building are critical aspects, it requires sustained effort and nuanced approach across a wide array of expertise to chart a course to succeed in developing a robust framework for Underwater Domain Awareness.
The webinar successfully generatd ideas for developing a credible UDA framework at the national, regional and global level.
The broad strategic relevance of the dialogue inhered in it the exposure of participants to the policy issues; technological means; innovative tools and measures; geo-politics; organisational aspects both nationally and globally; regional and global frameworks, and much more. The GAP analysis in terms of policy & technology interventions, along with acoustic capability and capacity building was highlighted and discussed.
The MRC has prepared this report on the proceedings with suggestions for various authorities, organisations and agencies within and outside the government for sensitisation, to deliberate upon its contents and thereafter initiate appropriate further action in a time-bound manner. To0achieve this, the resources and expertise of MRC will always be at their disposal
Whilst the recording of the webinar available at: https://youtu.be/ruoOkPCDKI8 it is suggested that this report be perused together with this recording to grasp the full depth and scope of the discussions. The main points made by various Speakers are summed up in succeeding paragraphs.
The list of Speakers and topics covered by them is placed at Annexure.
Keynotes by Esteemed guests

Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla
PVSM, AVSM, NM, VSM (RETD.) Former Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command, Indian Navy
Takeaways and Recommendations
The importance of safe, and sustainable shipping for commerce and trade; for connecting peoples and nations for the common good necessitates reliable Maritime Domain Awareness and a robust and extensive Underwater Domain Awareness.
The Indo Pacific Strategic space which is of great relevance to India enjoins it to take the lead in the development of technological expertise coupled with geo-political and geo-economic initiatives as well as Organisational structures for establishing a lasting and reliable Framework for Underwater Domain Awareness in the Indo-Pacific Strategic Space.
Due to its own dependence upon sea borne trade, India has to ensure safe shipping in the Indo- Pacific.
Considering India’s interests in strategic minerals and its status as a pioneer investor and contractor in the International Seabed Authority; its emergence as a major growing economy and the impending Presidency of the G 20 the MRC would be able to play an important role in achieving the goals of Underwater Domain Awareness. It could help put together the appropriate framework for it and even for a National Seabed Authority if the Government of India so desires. The Deep=sea mining industry, technology suppliers, environmental and risk management suppliers and others involved in exploitation and processing of strategic minerals based upon scientific knowledge would all gain from the expertise available from a Centre of Excellence to be created by the MRC.
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