For a long time, the waters of the Gulf of Oman have been used by arms and drugs smugglers. These smugglers tend to stay in international waters, outside the 12-mile territorial zone where they can be legitimately stopped and searched by the Omani Coastguard. On occasions, smugglers can dip into territorial waters when the Coastguard is not about, but normally they transit through Oman’s 200-mile deep Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), where international maritime law gives vessels freedom of navigation and a right of passage. These waters are shared by high volumes of oil and container traffic en route to the Gulf and Asia, with the smugglers thus able to hide themselves amongst the legitimate merchant traffic crowding these busy sea lanes.
In recent years, Oman has made strenuous efforts within the constraints of international maritime law to intercept such smugglers. While most illicit traffic is in transit toward Yemen, the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa - areas served by traditional dhow traffic - regular attempts are also made to land illegal migrants and narcotics on Omani beaches, their ultimate destination normally being the United Arab Emirates.
A recent article published by the Washington Institute has analyzed the Omani efforts to tighten up on this smuggling activity.
The first priority has been the upgrading of the Maritime Security Centre in Muscat, designed to exchange ship movement information between allies and the different Omani agencies that detect and identify traffic in home waters. All of these Omani agencies are being upgraded in terms of surveillance and interception capability.
The Omani Coastguard, responsible for patrolling both the 2,000-mile coastline and the adjoing territorial waters, is being upgraded with 14 Hercules 28-meter fast patrol boats, equipped with X-band radar, electro-optical and night vision systems, with additional smaller patrol boats being procured as well.
The Royal Navy of Oman, primarily responsible for patrolling the EEZ, has five corvettes and 12 patrol vessels, but is looking to expand the fleet.
