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https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-how-vulnerable-australia-would-be-to-attacks-on-shipping-in-the-indian-ocean-287495>
"The closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the US-Iran war has brought home how
vital maritime trading routes are to a country like Australia, which conducts
99% of its global trade by sea.
Protecting Australia’s supply of critical goods – and exports of minerals,
liquefied natural gas and agricultural products – requires maintaining maritime
security across vast distances and countering threats far from Australia’s
coasts.
This task is becoming increasingly challenging as China’s naval presence
expands in the Indian Ocean.
Recently, a team of researchers from Stanford University, La Trobe University
and Australian National University conducted a series of simulations to test
the vulnerability of Australia’s economic and strategic lifelines.
We conducted a two-day war game involving nine former senior military and
defence officials from Australia, India, the United States and Japan. The
simulations tested the abilities of the Australian, US and Indian militaries to
respond to two possible crisis scenarios involving China.
Our game demonstrated that maritime trading routes required protection across
the full length of the Indian Ocean, not just in waters close to Australia.
For example, under certain conditions, we found even a single successful attack
on shipping in the central Indian Ocean could severely disrupt trade across the
entire region. It could trigger prohibitive war-risk premiums from shipping
insurers, costly route diversions, or the withdrawal of commercial traffic from
the Indian Ocean altogether."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
