SEAGATE: Securing maritime energy infrastructures

The security of maritime energy infrastructures has risen to become a major security policy area after the Nord Stream explosions and Russian strategic targeting of energy infrastructures. Politically and institutionally, international organisations, states and corporate actors have come to terms with the fact that they need to collaborate to secure critical energy infrastructure. In a Norwegian context, collaborative governance in societal security and Norwegian total defence is nothing new. However, the role that energy and energy infrastructures play in the current geopolitical security landscape necessitates security collaboration involving an increasingly complex actor network transgressing sectors and levels.

SEAGATE targets the significance of a changed threat landscape for collaboration between different actors in the security of maritime energy infrastructure. The project has two aims. First, the project will explore the security agency of corporate energy actors – a new security policy actor – in maritime infrastructure security. This includes mapping the extent to which industry actors consider themselves security actors, and their capabilities and challenges within security risk governance within the maritime domain. Second, the project will explore collaboration structures, including successes and challenges, between defence actors (particularly the Norwegian Defence and NATO) and energy actors operating maritime energy infrastructures. This includes identifying any bottlenecks for a well-functioning security governance regime between defence and industrial actors.

SEAGATE is a one-year project financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence. SEAGATE also reaps benefits from close collaboration with the research project INTERSECT, financed by the Norwegian Research Council.