Besides the density of the SLOT at the sea surface, undersea cables are also increasingly being laid on the seabed as the backbone of world communications.

However, the SLOT is facing disturbance from traditional and non-traditional threats, ranging from misperceptions between countries and transnational organized crimes, to pollution and environmental degradation. Transnational organized crimes have harnessed technological advances, resulting in the growing trend of various criminal acts with crime patterns that law enforcers find it more difficult to detect.

These growing challenges should give an impetus to regional cooperation to establish maritime guardrails or mechanisms to secure the region from various threats, as their transnational character requires joint awareness among countries and regional organizations.

However, balancing political ends and economic imperatives is an art form. It requires a measurable scheme and mechanism to be tailored to each country's national interests and regional organizations' interests.

Dealing with multifaceted threats at sea requires cooperation between Southeast Asian states at various levels. This cooperation requires trust as its foundation. Southeast Asian states could enact several maritime security cooperation programs as a concrete effort for trust building.

First, it is important to open effective communication channels. Currently, interstate maritime security cooperation already has existing lines of communication that can be further improved, while interregional maritime security cooperation still needs to be built together.

Communication lines need to be arranged in stages, starting from the operator level in the field, the operator level in the control center, and up to the decision-making level. With a secure line of communication, a constructive dialogue can be developed to avoid misperceptions and miscalculations between Southeast Asian states' law enforcement officers at sea.

Second, the region needs to empower key officials who understand security cooperation schemes and mechanisms at the technical, operational and decision-making levels. These officials can exchange information and meet periodically to evaluate the results of the maritime security cooperation.

Third, we need to proliferate Navy-to-Navy and Coast Guard-to-Coast Guard cooperation. The two forms of cooperation can employ various patrol boats and maritime aircraft, including unmanned systems.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology must also be utilized to prevent and counter all forms of transnational organized crimes' interference against the SLOT that also use unmanned systems. At the same time, unmanned systems can also be used to detect pollution at sea and up in the air above sea level. Each country can set up a task force consisting of Navy and Coast Guard components simultaneously or alternately to be deployed with other countries' task forces.

Fourth, maritime security cooperation can be further integrated by establishing a Multinational Task Force (MTF) consisting of Navy and Coast Guard components, with the addition of the police.

The MTF can be perceived as a form of civil-military cooperation in securing the SLOT. It can also increase the confidence of various international shipping companies in SLOT security. High confidence in the MTF can also be projected to reduce international shipping companies’ intention to use private maritime security companies.

The main challenge here is to arrange the maritime security cooperation scheme to align with each country's national interests and each regional organization's interests. One solution is for the scheme to accommodate the dual use of securing the SLOT and access to energy resources at sea.

Southeast Asian states can explore new international sea-lane alternatives to avoid certain routes that are prone to conflict and marine ecosystem disruptions, or routes with navigational accident potentials.

Beyond intra-ASEAN regional cooperation, harmonization can exist between countries and maritime security groupings in the Indian Ocean region.

Between countries, such cooperation can be initiated by Indonesia, Australia and India through Indonesia’s capacity as an ASEAN member state and Australia and India respectively as a member state of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad). The maritime security cooperation between the three countries can be oriented to discuss various alternative solutions against the shared problem of sea level rise.

Moreover, to realize its vision as Global Maritime Fulcrum, Indonesia can establish maritime security cooperation with member states of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and the Polynesian Leaders Group (PLG). Australia, as a PIF member state and its influence over the MSG and PLG, is key to the success of Indonesia’s maritime security cooperation outreach in the South Pacific.

Indonesia, Australia and many South Pacific countries are home to the most extensive coral reefs in the world. This offers an opportunity for cooperation and leadership to protect the marine ecosystem and promote environmental security, with focus on addressing illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing and preserving the marine ecosystem.

Between regional institutions, three organizations, namely ASEAN, IORA and Quad, can harmonize their goals. ASEAN has three pillars in the ASEAN Community implementation which can establish maritime security cooperation. The APSC pillar can work together with Quad to protect the SLOT. The AEC pillars can work with IORA for a blue economy, including coastal and maritime tourism.

For the regional initiatives to harmonize, it requires leadership between middle powers. Maritime security cooperation mechanisms in Southeast Asian waters can be pioneered by Indonesia and Australia as an ASEAN first among equals and an AUKUS member state respectively. Together, they could cooperate to align AUKUS closely to Southeast Asia’s regional needs.

One of AUKUS' aims is to promote collective security in overcoming various forms of threats, including maritime security threats. The alignment of ASEAN-AUKUS cooperation can be directed to design and apply a detection system for all illegal ships and unmanned systems used by transnational organized crime. This detection system can also be utilized to prevent pollution by ships that navigate along the SLOT.

Maritime security and stability is imperative to accelerate the flow of regional trade by sea. This is the immediate benefit of establishing maritime security guardrails within ASEAN and harmonizing initiatives across the Indo-Pacific region.

Trust and leadership are key elements toward building concrete mechanisms that amount to a credible maritime security guardrail.

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The writer, a Vice Adm. and professor of security sociology, is the rector of the Indonesian University of Defense. The article was developed based on his presentation at the Southeast Asia Regional Geopolitical Update at the Australian National University on May 1.