“The sea is common to all; it is so limitless that it cannot become a possession of anyone”
- Hugo Grotius

The ocean does not care for borders. It does not read treaties. It does not honour embargoes.

The concept of maritime piracy becoming a mainstream global issue was not a prevalent concern until the late 2000s, during which piracy became the most rampant issue in the African Coast. While the horn of Africa was a hub for trade and a major junction for the world’s shipping economy, it was also transforming into the epicenter of the world’s illicit cargo trade and piracy attacks. Pirates would not only attack major vessels destabilising economic trade routes and stealing resources, they would be heavily involved in the trafficking of arms and oftentimes would circumvent trade blocks and sanctions all the way to the UN level as well. The incident that brought this to light was the hijacking of the MV Faina, a Ukrainian vessel carrying a large amount of Russian arms and ammunition. These were thought to land in Kenya however, upon its capture by Somali Pirates it was discovered that it was intended to land in South Sudan, a country which was under a UN arms embargo.
 

This is just one of many incidents of widespread piracy and the circumventing of arms embargoes and other such international sanctions conducted by illicit trade rings worldwide. Somali pirates carried out over 1,200 attacks on commercial vessels, seized more than 150 ships, and took thousands of seafarers hostage. At its peak, this cost the global economy about $200 million a year. The international response has been to deploy naval assets from NATO, the European Union, and various independent nations including, United States, China, Russia, and India. These forces operated in the Gulf of Aden and the greater Indian Ocean and executed a variety of missions including provision of escort services to merchant vessels, maintaining a presence in areas deemed to be high-risk for piracy, and conducting a variety of coordinated naval operations aimed at preventing future pirate attacks.This was the greatest coordinated anti-piracy effort since the 19th century, yet weapons continued to be transported through international shipping waters bound for a country under an arms embargo. There remained no governing authority that  had the power to put an end to this illegal activity.

Moreover, while the MV Faina incident led to many policy debates and it pushed for a complete overhaul of how arms embargoes are structured, there were no substantive changes as to how embargoes were enforced. In fact, there is still a major influx in piracy. In 2023, the Bab el Mandeb strait, a region carrying around 12% of global trade by value annually came under attack via Houthi pirates from Yemen. In the final week of April 2026, there were at least three confirmed hijackings off the Somali coast and the Somali basin in the span of a single week with pirates boarding two cargo vessels and a tanker. As of late the Joint Maritime Information centre has additionally elevated the threat level within the Somali region to substantial showcasing the continued presence of pirates and illicit cargo trade in the region.

What this committee must now answer is what the world has long avoided. How can arms embargoes be enforced when shipments move through complex sea routes involving multiple states and unclear end destinations? When every party involved denies involvement, how can the international system stop embargo violations from disappearing into silence and ambiguity? Who takes responsibility when every nation denies involvement? An effective and enforceable framework for arms embargoes is essential today, as illegal arms shipments continue to drive illicit trade and fund a significant share of piracy and related criminal activity. It is up to this committee to develop concrete solutions to address legislative gaps in the current system.

You, as delegates, must recognise the flaws in the current system, remedy them and go on to create a new, equitable, effective and airtight form of enforcement which would not only repair cracks from decades past, but rather put an end to a problem that is the root cause of so many others. With the MV Faina opening the eyes of the global community, it is up to you to tackle the modern day issues acting as a parallel to the discordant Somali coast of 2008. The resolution of modern day piracy is paramount to not only ensuring the safety of vessels travelling within these economically vital zones but also curbing the major issue of illicit arms trafficking and the subversion of arms embargoes worldwide.

The one thing delegates should remember is that the sea does not care for territories, but this committee must.