Navigating gods and monsters: the production of safe insecure spatialities in the deterrence of risk at sea

These rules accentuate a binary of ‘God’ and ‘Monster’ relative to who is authenticated and excluded at sea. The empirical aspect of this dissertation applies this conceptual argument by drawing on the contemporary experience of navigating Somali piracy. It draws on the role of third-party maritime insurers (P&I Clubs) and seafarers to document how experiences of piracy have been used on land as the core knowledge that is mobilised to reproduce and refine practical deterrence measures that are used onboard merchant vessels.

This analysis reveals that through exchanges of knowledge and expertise of life at sea, guidance is refined to embody the everyday norms of seafaring but, most importantly, pursues security without posing further risk to the merchant mariner. Drawing on personal testimonies of seafarers who have transited the aptly named High-Risk Area and the experience of elite, expert representatives of the maritime insurance industry, this study contributes the documentation of experiencing, representing and deterring piracy as part of a more extended, unfinished history of navigating risks at sea.<br><br><i>Thesis embargoed until 31 December 2026</i>.<br>