The expanding volume of sea trade between South Africa and other parts of the global world
places pressure on increased maritime security particularly because maritime security affects
both communities living close to the sea as well as bi- and multilateral relations on the larger
international scale. While most research studies focus on threats of piracy and the economic
impacts of maritime security on international trade this paper seeks to critically explore maritime
challenges at a more local level namely the voices of actors directly with first hand experiences of
maritime matters. Using in depth semi structured face to face interviews with six participants
within a qualitative framework the study concluded that maritime challenges are indeed larger
than the traditional security challenges. Challenges included seafarers’ working conditions,
stowaways, human and drug trafficking and piracy. The study makes recommendations for future
large scale research on maritime challenges
