NATIONAL DEFENCE ACADEMY

2011

NAVAL INTERMEDIATE COMMAND AND STAFF COURSE

 

COOPERATION OF COAST GUARDS AND NAVIES IN BALTIC SEA REGION

Academic Essay

 

 

 

 

LCDR TAAVI URB

SYNDICATE VANDALS

 

 

RIGA

10.04.2011

Table of contents

Introduction

Baltic Sea is relatively narrow, densely exploited and fragile body of water. Lawful use of Baltic Sea as a way of transport and as a pool of resources is of vital importance for all nine nations surrounding it. Maintaining good order and protecting interests of nation at sea has traditionally been the task for navies or coastguards. At present time there are again some discussions in Estonia about obligations of the navy and the coastguard and of possibilities of cooperation between or even merging of those two institutions. In light of those debates it would be wise to look, how are similar tasks solved by our neighbours, and which are current developments in this matter.

This writing has two aims. First is to describe current organization of coastguards in Baltic Sea region and the role of navies in those organizations. Secondary is to represent possibilities for bigger role of navies in this matter in present moment and near future. The aim of this writing is not to evaluate or grade different ways currently used for fulfilling coastguard tasks. For that purpose I will first describe organization of coastguards in Baltic Sea region, try to find out reasons for different organizations and classify them in four categories proposed by Geoffrey Till.After that I will argument for bigger role for navies in coastguard matters and for importance of cooperation between navies and coastguards and between states.

Arrangement of coastguard duties in Baltic Sea region

United Nations Convention oft the Law of the Sea gives coastal states extensive rights to stop, control and even arrest vessels which are not innocent passing or are violating laws of coastal nation and to protect his interests in his territorial waters.¹ Enforcing those rights is usually obligation of coast guard or other service acting in coast guard duties. Maritime search and rescue (SAR) and disposal of maritime pollution are also common duties of coastguard. This chapter will describe how coastguards are organized in different countries around Baltic Sea.

Russian Federal Border Service is part of Federal Security Service (FSB) and is a strong fighting force, probably the strongest among coastguards in the region, maintaining a strong fleet of surface vessels, including frigates.² Duties of Federal Border Service are among the rest surveillance and protection of border, territorial waters and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Russian Federation, fishery protection and SAR. Border guard in Russia has always been subordinated to security agencies.³ It is logical while in soviet period border guard was obligated to force strict border regime, to check escapees and to counter possible invaders from hostile West.

Finnish coastguard has probably been shaped by geographical situation and by vicinity to Russia. Long coastline an extensive populated archipelago creates a demand for a strong organization for surveillance and SAR. Neighbourhood to unpredictable and potentially aggressive Russia demands good situational awareness for early warning for potential hostilities and non military organization to fulfil those duties. Coastguard duties in Finland are fulfilled by Gulf of Finland and West Finland Coastguard Districts and by Air Patrol Squadron all subordinated to border guard. Their duties are border surveillance, SAR, safety at sea, protection of maritime environment, control and surveillance of waterborne traffic.

Border surveillance is formed mainly by coast guard stations with their radar and camera systems. Technical surveillance is supplemented by patrolling ships and by aircraft of Air Patrol Squadron. SAR missions are coordinated by maritime rescue coordination centres and sub centres. In SAR and maritime environment protection duties border guard cooperates with the Finnish Maritime Administration, defence forces and environmental authorities.⁴ Finnish Navy is the main responsible for maritime surveillance and intelligence gathering at sea.⁵ Navy, border guard and Finnish Maritime Administration share common recognized maritime picture provided by sea surveillance information system maintained by navy.⁶ Finnish navy and coastguard work in close cooperation in many matters andships and personnel of coastguard are seen as an important part of armed forces in war time.⁷

Sweden has long coastline and extensive archipelago similar to Finland. The big difference to Finland is absence of a potentially hostile neighbour and probably much stricter relation to civilian control over armed forces. Swedish coastguard can look back to a long history. It was established in 1682 as a pair of beach riders whose duty was to prevent smuggling and plundering of wrecks⁸ and has performance well by the side of the navy since then. Nowadays Swedish Coast Guard is a civilian authority under jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence with own ships, hovercrafts, helicopters and diving unit.⁹ Duties of coastguard are marine surveillance, environmental response, border and goods control at sea and fishery control. Though authority responsible for aeronautical and maritime SAR in Sweden is the Swedish Maritime Administration¹⁰, the actual SAR operations are conducted by the coastguard. Coastguard cooperates closely with Swedish Police, Swedish Customs, Swedish Board of Fisheries, Swedish Maritime Administration and other authorities.¹¹ Swedish Navy is not directly involved in coastguard duties but naval units must be capable of being used in support of the civil community¹² and navy contributes to recognized maritime picture compilation¹³.

Danish way to solve the issue is totally different from Swedish, Finnish or Russian way. Danish territorial waters and EEZ are much more extensive then other states around Baltic Sea (except Russia of course) reaching from Baltic Sea to Greenland and Faroe Islands. Those waters need to be monitored and protected. The main tasks in this vast and remote area in North Sea are ice breaking, fishery protection and demonstration of presence of the state. An other important and complicated task is maintaining maritime awareness in Danish straits – probably the most dense maritime traffic area in Baltic Sea with average 200 vessels crossing daily.¹⁴ To fulfil those duties a strong and robust organization is needed. Danish Navy has guarded Danish straits and demanded taxis for its crossing since XVI century, long time before establishing of any border guard what so ewer, and earned high respect in Danish society.

In Denmark duties of coastguard are fulfilled by the navy. Admiral Danish Fleet¹⁵ is responsible for military security and safety at sea, including ice breaking and pollution combating. Those duties are fulfilled in cooperation with the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization, the Air Force, as well as a number of other governmental institutions including the police, the Danish Maritime Authority, Danish Meteorological Institute and the Danish Ministry of Taxation. Maritime Surveillance Centres, Maritime Assistance Service¹⁶, Joint Rescue Coordinator Centre and Vessel Traffic Service are all subordinated or integrated to Admiral Danish Fleet. Rescue, surveillance and pollution combating missions are conducted respectively by SAR helicopters, by rescue cruisers, by fast rescue boats of coastal rescue stations or by vessels of navy or Naval Home Guard. Navy also provides ships for fishery protection around Greenland and Faroe Islands. Ships are operated and day to day business itself is maintained by Island Commanders.¹⁷

German coastguard organization is probably the most complicated in Baltic Sea region. German Coastguard (Küstenwache) consists of multiple independent services. Federal Police is responsible for maritime surveillance, security and border control, for countering of illegal immigration, for environmental protection and for fishery protection on continental shelf.¹⁸ For SAR is responsible voluntary German Maritime Search and Rescue Service. For environmental and maritime emergency response (fire fighting, medical response, emergency towing and salvage) is responsible Central Command of Maritime Emergency. Fight with illegal drug trafficking is responsibility of Customs Administration. Fisheries enforcement is duty of Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food. For maritime security within territorial waters is responsible Water Police of costal states.¹⁹ All those services are coordinated through Maritime Safety and Security Centre; they work in close cooperation and use the same paint scheme on their vessels.²⁰ German Navy is not part of coastguard organization and possibilities to use navy for coastguard duties are strictly limited. Navy can conduct maritime surveillance but is not allowed to stop any ships. SAR missions after flying accident are responsibility of navy.²¹

Reasons for such complicated organization can lay in history and in federal organization of Germany. Police duties are responsibility area of states (Bunesländer) and this responsibility extends to coastal sea. German Maritime Search and Rescue Service was established as a voluntary organization as early as in 1865 and has worked well since den with only little and most of the time with no financial support from the state.²² German equivalent to maritime border guard, the maritime part of the Federal Police, is in contrary very young. It was established in 1956²³ to counter violations of border and refugees from German Democratic Republic.²⁴ Hands of German navy in matters of coastguard duties have been and still are very much tied by laws and civilian control as result of Second World War.²⁵

Polish system of coastguard resembles German way. Poland reformed his coastguard in 1991. A purely military structure was replaced by civilian border guard,²⁶ but the navy still plays important role in coastguard matters. Coastguard duties in Poland are fulfilled mainly by the Polish Navy and the Maritime Regional Unit of Border Guard. Tasks of the navy are surveillance and showing of presence in territorial waters and EEZ, supporting of border guard activities of border protection in territorial waters and EEZ and participating in SAR missions and in environmental protection.²⁷ The Hydrographic Office of the Polish Navy provides hydrographical information, sea charts and navigational warnings for navy and civilian shipping and maintains the Maritime Safety Information System.²⁸ Duties of Maritime Regional Unit of Border Guard are among the rest surveillance and border protection on Polish maritime border, protecting security of shipping and order in Polish territorial waters, participating in SAR missions and environmental protection.²⁹ The third and leading party in matters of SAR and pollution combating is the Maritime Search and Rescue Service subordinated to Ministry of Infrastructure. Polish Air Force is also involved in SAR tasks.³⁰

Coastguard duties in Lithuania are fulfilled by the Lithuanian Navy.³¹ Duties of the navy are stated as surveillance, control, protection and defence of territorial waters and EEZ, support of institutions carrying out antiterrorist activities at sea, protection and control of shipping and sea lines of communications, SAR and mine countermeasures operations. Maritime surveillance is conducted by coastal radar stations of Sea and Coastal Surveillance Serviceand by ships of Naval Flotilla. SAR coordination is obligation of Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre Stationed in Klaipeda.SAR operations are conducted by ships of the navy. ³² In SAR operations is navy supported by the State Border Guard Service as navy has no own air assets.³³ Execution and coordination of pollution control operations is also responsibility of navy.³⁴

Lithuania has the shortest coastline but the strongest and most balanced navy of the three Baltic States since reestablishment of independence. In 1993 Lithuanian Navy has taken over coastal radar stations from Russian Baltic Fleet and got that way also duty of maritime surveillance. Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre was merged to navy in 2010 to increase sufficiency and reduce reaction times. Before that was SAR coordination done by independent Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre but the centre was dependant to navy as it had no own maritime assets. It is also been claimed that the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre was not fit to fulfil his duties and had to be reinforced by officers from navy.³⁵Lithuanian geography has also given his part to that development. Curonian Spit divides Lithuanian territorial water in two parts: Curonian Lagoon and the rest. So it has been simple to divide areas of responsibility between the navy and the border guard: border guard’s responsibilities lay east from the spit, including the lagoon, and navy’s area of responsibility lays west of the Spit.

In Latvia coastguard duties – monitor and survey of the territorial waters and the EEZ, leading and performing SAR operations at sea, ecological monitoring and catastrophe consequence management operations and implementation of laws in Latvian territorial water – are fulfilled by Latvian Naval Flotilla. Monitoring and survey of territorial waters and EEZ is done mainly by radar stations of Sea Coastal Surveillance Service. Coordination of SAR and pollution response operations is responsibility of Coast Guard Service. Ships for those duties are provided mainly by Patrol Boat Squadron³⁶, Coast Guard Service himself owns only anti-pollution vessels.³⁷ Air assets for SAR tasks are provided by Latvian Air Force.³⁸ Other institution operating at sea with own vessels and air units is the State Border Guard whose task is to protect and keep watch of the state border.³⁹

Latvian Naval Flotilla is in the moment in a period of change. Latvian National Armed Forces have given up conscription and developed to a fully professional service to be more able to fulfil international tasks abroad. As a result of process of reorganization and consolidation of armed forces Latvian Navy has been reorganized to less independent Latvian Naval Flotilla. Previously independent Coast Guard Service has been merged to the navy already in 2004.⁴⁰ Main reasons for that were cost effectiveness and need to provide broader and commonly understandable tasks for navy personnel.⁴¹ In current time also economic crisis and financial concerns are impacting the evolution of navy and coastguard in Latvia.

In Estonia duties of coastguard are fulfilled by Police and Border Guard Board. Police and Border Guard Board was created in 2010 by merging Police Board, Citizenship and Migration Board and Border Guard.⁴² Duties of that institution are among others surveillance and protection of state border, coordination and conducting of SAR and pollution fighting operations.⁴³ Those duties are fulfilled by coastal radar stations of Department of Border Guard and by ships and helicopters of Northern Prefect of Police and Border Guard Board.⁴⁴ Estonian Navy is not involved in coastguard duties but naval ships can be used for SAR operations.⁴⁵ Navy can take some of coastguard functions in state of national or civilian emergency⁴⁶ and naval assets can be used for support of Police and Border Guard Board as an act of administrative support.⁴⁷ The third maritime institution having his own seagoing assets is the Estonian Maritime Administration, subordinated to Ministry of Economy and Communications,whose responsibility is providing navigational security, including sea charts, nautical and hydrographical information, seamarks, ice breaking and maintaining of vessel traffic service.⁴⁸ Fishery control and protection is duty of Environmental Inspection subordinated to Ministry of Environment. As the inspection has no vessels of there own, ships and air assets from Police and Border Guard Board are used as platforms.⁴⁹

Estonian coastguard was re-established in 1991 as a section of Board of Border Guard. Estonian Navy was re-established in 1993. So had coastguard in the beginning to fulfil that niche alone and later was there no space for navy anymore. Since 1997 when firs minesweepers were purchased from Germany Estonian Navy has concentrated almost purely on mine warfare. Since re-establishment of Estonian Navy there have been many discussions of unifying duties of navy and coastguard or of institutions themselves⁵⁰. Still none of those ideas have been fulfilled; instead border guard and navy have withdrawn from each other during the time.⁵¹

The main reason for that is frictions inside and between Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Defence and overexerted civilian control and constrains for use of military in constabulary duties. Other important reason has been financial – Estonian border guard has benefited on extensive help from European Union funds but this money is not allowed to use for military purposes. Still since end of 2010 Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Internal Affairs are again trying to find solutions for cooperation between Police and Border Guard Board and the navy, at least in matter of sea surveillance.⁵² The Long-Term Defence Development Plan 2009-2018 states that in that time period Estonian Navy will purchase patrol boats and enhance his sea surveillance capabilities.⁵³

As shown are duties of coastguards in Baltic Sea region fulfilled by different institutions in different ways. Geoffrey Till divides coastguards in 4 types. First is the US Coast Guard model – a strong independent organization with own fleet. US Navy has no right to arrest ships or personnel or even to engage in maritime interception operations of merchant ships, this are purely duties of the Coast Guard. Second is the British model – duties of coastguard are divided between several government and even voluntary organizations. Third type is the naval coastguards – it is rune by navy but differentiated from the rest of naval service. Forth type is navy as coastguard – navy fulfils all duties of coastguard and naval units are primarily designed to protect and enforce national rights in territorial waters.⁵⁴ Though theoretical models can seldom perfectly fit in real life it is possible to classify Baltic Sea coastguards as shown in table 1. Table 2 shows more specifically division of coastguard duties between different administrations in Baltic Sea states. Such variety in relatively small and coherent Baltic Sea region is not easy to explain. Geography and economy have definitely some influence on build up of coastguard organizations, but probably most important are historical and political reasons.

The new role for navies and international cooperation

The role of the navies is changing and international cooperation is one major aspect in this evolution. The sea has always been one interconnected system, “the great common”. Fish or pollution recognize no state borders. Passage of seas, with some restrictions of course, is allowed to everybody. 90% of goods are transported by sea⁵⁵. World’s population harvests 20% of his daily protein from the seas. Important sources as oil and gas lay on the bottom of the seas.⁵⁶ Globalizing world makes the sea more “common” than it ewer had been. Strong nongovernmental organizations use the sea for their purposes. Modern “just enough, just on time” transportation is very vulnerable to stopping of any kind.⁵⁷ Major shipping and environmental accidents influence many people. The Wise Pen Team states in his final report of 2011 that “The character of the seas has changed. From being an open space where freedom was the rule, the seas have become a shared, common “good” for humanity, vast but fragile and needing worldwide management and protection”.⁵⁸ At the same time major state against state naval campaigns have become less likely and many states have cut their expenditures on military, including navy.

Geoffrey Till states that today and even more in near future navies can not be used for purely war fighting but have to take broader and “softer” roles to protect the “good order at sea” – rightful use of the sea as resource, means of transportation, means of exchanging information, means of dominion and environment. So the roles of navies and coastguards will close each other and partially merge.⁵⁹ Also “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower” of United States of America states that because of the changing and globalizing world the United States Navy and the Coast Guard will have to work in closer cooperation.⁶⁰

There are still some constrains for using naval forces in coast guard duties. Some coastguard duties, SAR especially, forces ships to go close or even cross borders of neighbouring state. In those occasions a coast guard ship is politically more acceptable than a warship. Many countries have reservations about using military for constabulary duties, and will insist on high levels of political control and naval subordination to law-enforcement agencies. Warships are usually more sophisticated and expensive than most coastguard duties require and that way do not offer particularly cost-effective solutions. Some coastguard duties, work with refugees or illegal immigrants for example, demand special training for crew members of naval units. Also navies themselves often look on coast guard duties as on something less important that keeps them away from main obligations.⁶¹

The most important tool for maintaining the “good order at sea” is international cooperation. “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower” stresses that “No one nation has the resources required to provide safety and security throughout the entire maritime domain” and that states have to cooperate, especially to increase “maritime domain awareness” and to “expand intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability and capacity”.⁶² Baltic Sea is relatively small and confined but heavily exploited body of water. It is one of most important ways of transportation and a very important source of resources for states surrounding it. So is it just logical that international cooperation of maritime organizations around Baltic Sea has steadily grove.

Common areas for cooperation are SAR, environmental protection, surveillance of suspicious traffic and fight with smuggling, prevention of human trafficking and illegal migration. More seldom are cooperation in matters of training and support by materiel and personnel. All neighbouring states around Baltic Sea have some kind of bilateral agreements. There are also regional cooperation projects, for example between Baltic and Scandinavian States.⁶³Baltic Sea Region Border Control Cooperation (BSRBCC) incorporates all states around Baltic Sea and Norway.⁶⁴The Schengen treaty and abolition of boarder control inside European Union have made the control on European Union outer boarder even more important and give birth to Frontex – the European Union agency coordinating operational cooperation of border security between member states.Frontex gathers and collates information to create a clear picture of the ongoing situation at European Unions frontiers, coordinates joint operations, establishes common training standards for border guards, manages pooled resources and assists member states in the co-ordination of return flights.⁶⁵ One Frontex operation is ongoing right now: helping Italia to face wave of refugees and immigrants from North Africa.

The Wise Pen Team stresses, that navies having often superior equipment and situation awareness could and should contribute more to maritime picture compilation, maritime security and support of civilian maritime structures in European Union. “Navies have many capabilities to offer, from submarines to satellites, from expertise to data and networking systems. Maritime forces can provide valuable support to EU and national civilian agencies and, where appropriate, conduct routine or contingency maritime security and safety operations.”⁶⁶ Navies have a bit different and broader view on maritime situation awareness. NATO navies have access to certain classified databases, for example to NATO Command, Control and Information System (MCCIS) or NATO COI/VOCI/CCOI List.⁶⁷

SUCBAS – the Sea Surveillance Co-operation Baltic Sea – is a new maritime situational awareness cooperation project between navies. SUCBAS links sea surveillance systems of Finnish, Swedish, Danish, German, Estonian, Lithuanian, Latvian and Polish navies.⁶⁸ Objectives of SUCBAS are improvement of maritime situational awareness in Baltic Sea and its approaches, improvement of interoperability of participating countries and maritime authorities, supporting maritime safety and security, supporting national authorities in border control and in fight with environmental hazards, and last but not least creating an atmosphere of cooperation.⁶⁹ SUCBAS works on 3 levels. 1^st, mandatory, level is manual exchange of maritime contacts of special surveillance interest through a daily report. 2^nd level includes automated sharing of data through mutual access to each others databases and online sharing of sensors. Currently only Finland, Sweden and Denmark are cooperating on 2^nd level. 3^rd level enables exchange of classified information.⁷⁰

Conclusion

The organization of coastguard in relatively small and coherent Baltic Sea region is surprisingly diverse, arching from navies fulfilling whole spectrum of coastguard duties over strong and independent coastguard organizations to complicated systems of many independent organizations working for common goal. Reasons for such variety can be geographical and economical, but most importantly historical and political. Lithuania and Latvia have recently fully incorporated their coastguards to the navies and Estonia is probably moving in the same direction. Danish Navy has fulfilled coastguard duties almost from the beginning of its existence. This might be the tendency for the future but it is too early to draw final conclusions because most of the countries in the region still maintain independent coastguards or a mixture of different departments fulfilling the role of coastguard.

The role of the navies in modern time is changing. Reasons for that are lack of a strong enemy state and cut of military expenditures for many countries on one side and globalizing world with strong non governmental actors and common interest of nations on others side. Navies are involving from purely war fighting force to more flexible organizations protecting “good order at sea” and fulfilling constabulary duties on global and regional level. For those purposes a closer cooperation between navies and between navies and coastguards is inevitable. Navies and coastguards will close each other and the differences between duties of those organizations will become fuzzier.

Sea is the great common that connects in many ways almost all nations of the world. Baltic Sea is a very important transport way and pool of resources for all states surrounding it. Protecting and guarding of Baltic Sea is in interests of all states of the region. That reality fosters maritime cooperation between the states in the region, particularly in spheres concerning of or close to coastguards. Forthcoming globalization and rise of nongovernmental actors will bring this process even further. The Schengen treaty and abolition of boarder control inside European Union has given an additional boost to cooperation of coastguards of European Union states. The Wise Pen Teams final report of 2010 emphasizes need for bigger role of the navies contributing to maritime situational awareness and maritime security inside European Union. SUCBAS as cooperation project between navies in maritime situation awareness that can well be one step in that direction.

Table 1: Types of coastguards around Baltic Sea

US Coast Guard model	RussiaFinlandSwedenEstonia
British model	GermanyPoland
Naval coastguard	–
Navy as coastguard	DenmarkLithuaniaLatvia

Table 2: Division of coastguard duties between services in states around Baltic Sea

State	Service	Duties
		Maritime surveillance	Fishery protection	Oil pollution liquidation	Security of shipping	SAR
Russia	Navy	+
	Federal Border Service	+	+			+
Finland	Navy	+
	Border guard	+	+	+	+	+
Sweden	Navy	+
	Coastguard	+	+	+		+
Denmark	Navy	+	+	+	+	+
Germany	Navy	+				+71
	Federal Police	+	+	+	+
	Other services included to German Coastguard		+	+	+	+
Poland	Navy	+	+		+	+
	Maritime Regional Unit of Border Guard	+	+		+	+
	Maritime Search and Rescue Service			+		+
Lithuania	Navy	+		+	+	+
Latvia	Navy	+		+	+	+
	State Border Guard	+
Estonia	Navy
	Police and Border Guard Board	+		+	+	+
	Estonian Maritime Administration				+
	Environmental Inspection		+

Duty fulfilled by a particular service is marked with +.

Bibliography

Legal acts and publications:

1. Administrative Cooperation Act, passed by Parliament of Estonia 29.01.2003 https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/103022011004
2. Civil Emergency Act, passed by Parliament of Estonia 15.06.2009 https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/108112010021
3. Long-Term Defence Development Plan 2009-2018, passed by Ministry of Defence of Estonia 22.01.2009 http://www.mod.gov.ee/files/kmin/nodes/10655_SKAK_2010_est.pdf
4. National Emergency Act, passed by Parliament of Estonia 10.01.1996 https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/13204511
5. Police and Border Guard Board Act, passed by Parliament of Estonia 06.05.2009 https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/13343113
6. Regulation of Police and Border Guard Board, passed by Ministry of Internal Affairs of Estonia 30.09.2009 https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/13222715
7. Regulation of Search and Rescue Operations Including Detection and Disposal of Pollution in Estonian Sea Area and on Lakes of Peipsi, Pihkva and Lämmi, passed by Ministry of Internal Affairs of Estonia 23.07.2002 https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/13346566
8. SUCBAS Standard Operating Procedures Version 1, dated 18.02.2010
9. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, passed by United Nations 1982

Books and magazines:

1. The World Defense Almanac (Issue 1/2010), Military Technology
2. Till, Geoffrey (2006), Seapower. A Guide to the Twenty-First Century (London: Frank Cass)

Articles:

1. A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower (2007) at http://www.navy.mil/maritime/MaritimeStrategy.pdf (24.03.2011)
2. Aug, Tuuli (2010), ‘Politseinikke ja päästjaid mobilisatsiooni ajal püssi alla ei kutsuta’, Eesti Päevaleht, 12.04.2010 at http://www.epl.ee/artikkel/574884 (06.03.2011)
3. Laanemets, Ott (2009), Memo of maritime surveillance seminar held 16.02.2009
4. Schvede, Igor (2003), Advantages and Disadvantages of Assigning Coast Guard Duties to the Estonian Navy (Tartu: Baltic Defence College M.A. writing)
5. Sulbi, Raul (2010), ‘Riigikaitsekomisjon tõdes vähest koordineeritust mereseires’, Postimees, 14.12.2010 at http://www.postimees.ee/?id=153000 (06.03.2011
6. Sulbi, Raul (2011), ’Eesti eesmärgiks on julgeolekualase põhifookusega ühine mereseirekeskus’, Postimees 25.01.2011 at http://www.postimees.ee/?id=377775 (06.03.2011)
7. Tamm, Merike (2009), ’Piirivalve: meie rolli vähenemine on loogiline samm’, Postimees, 07.12.2009 at http://www.postimees.ee/?id=197877 (06.03.2011)
8. Wise Pen Team (2010), Maritime Surveillance in Support of CSDP. The Wise Pen Team Final Report to EDA Steering Board at http://www.eda.europa.eu/WebUtils/downloadfile.aspx?fileid=902 (25.03.2011)

Interviews:

1. Interview with captain Ilmars Lešinskis, chief of Latvian Navy 1999-2004 24.03.2011

Lectures and presentations:

1. Kyrkjeeide, Joerund (2011), Lecture of NCAGS (Baltic States Naval Intermediate Command and Staff Course 2011)
2. Latvian students of Baltic States Naval Intermediate Command and Staff Officers Course 2011 (2011), Presentation of Latvian Naval Forces (Baltic States Naval Intermediate Command and Staff Course 2011)
3. Voveris, Ramanauskas, Zabiela (2011), Presentation of Lithuanian Navy (Baltic States Naval Intermediate Command and Staff Course 2011)

Websites:

1. Homepage of Baltic Sea Region Border Control Cooperation (07.03.2011)
2. Homepage of Danish Navy (03.03.2011)
3. Homepage of Estonian Environmental Inspection (06.03.2011)
4. Homepage of Estonian Maritime Administration
5. Homepage of Estonian Police and Border Guard Board
6. Homepage of Finnish Border Guard (22.02.2011)
   
7. Homepage of Finnish Defense Forces (22.03.2011)
8. Homepage of Frontex (09.03.2011)
9. Homepage of German Federal Police (04.03.2011)
   
10. Homepage of German Maritime SAR Service (04.03.2011)
11. Homepage of German Navy (04.03.2011)
12. Homepage of Hydrographic Office of Polish Navy (05.03.2011)
13. Homepage of Lithuanian Armed Forces (05.03.2011)
14. Homepage of Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (05.03.2011)
15. Homepage of Ministry of Defence of Estonia (06.03.2011)
16. Homepage of Ministry of Interior of Latvia (05.03.2011)
17. Homepage of Latvian Coast Guard Service (21.03.2011)
18. Homepage of Polish Maritime Regional Unit of Border Guard (05.03.2011)
19. Homepage of Polish Maritime Search and Rescue Service (05.03.2011)
    
20. Homepage of Polish Navy (05.03.2011)
21. Homepage of Russian Federal Border Service (04.03.2011)
    
22. Homepage of SUCBAS (21.03.2011)
23. Homepage of Swedish Coast Guard (04.03.2011)
24. Homepage of Swedish Maritime Administration (08.03.2011)
25. Homepage of Swedish Navy (04.03.2011)
26. Koponen, Heikki (2009), Finnish Border Guard presentation (22.02.2011)
27. Swedish Coast Guard, Swedish Coast Guard in brief (04.03.2011)