As the Pacific Fleet begins to wrap up Exercise Rim of the Pacific, the U.S. Navy League’s Honolulu Council has scheduled its third iteration of the Indo- Pacific Maritime Exchange at the Hawai‘i Convention Center for Thursday and Friday.
It’s a return to holding the event in person after the rapid spread of COVID- 19 forced most conferences into cancellation or to move to online chats or webinars. The event is expected to bring top Navy officers from around the region, contractors, analysts and other dignitaries to Honolulu to discuss issues on the seas ranging from potential military confrontations to illegal fishing.
But Larry Osborn, IMSE chair and vice president of the Navy League’s Pacific Region, stressed that it’s not a strictly military event. He said anyone who wants to attend in person or view streamed events is welcome.
“I would say it includes the general public and academia, and then anyone that has an interest in maritime and foreign affairs in the region,” Osborn said. “The whole idea of the conference is to sort of foster dialogue in the region.”
The event came about to fill what Osborn and others saw as a gap in what was happening in Hawaii. He noted that the Association of the U.S. Army has been hosting the Land Forces Pacific Symposium, or LANPAC, in Honolulu for years and bringing together military leaders from across the region.
But there was no equivalent sea-centric exchange in Hawaii — a major naval and maritime hub — where interested parties could sit down and discuss ideas without whirlwind activity of an international exercise like RIMPAC and in a setting that would allow more frank and thoughtful conversations.
“The idea was to have dialogue and encourage dialogue, and for the services it gives them an opportunity to sort of meet on neutral ground,” said Osborn.
The event is held in partnership with the East-West Center in Manoa, Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Waikiki, and Honolulu-based think tank Pacific Forum.
“The common waters, meaning the sea lanes, are so important to commerce, to global security and to transshipment of everything from vaccines to goods that we use,” said East-West Center Vice President Satu Limaye. “Hawaii has a unique combination of military institutions, academic institutions, exchange and education and leadership organizations … so it’s really both natural and logical that Hawaii hosts something like the Indo-Pacific Maritime Security Exchange.”
The first IMSE was held in 2018 at the end of RIMPAC, bringing in several participants. After a successful run organizers had ambitious plans to hold another at the tail end of RIMPAC 2020.
“We all know what happened in 2020,” Obsorn said.
COVID-19 scuttled plans for the 2020 event, but it returned in 2021 in an online format that centered on illegal fishing. Speakers included then- commander of the Coast Guard Area Pacific Adm. Linda Fagan, who this year became Coast Guard commandant and the first woman to lead a U.S. military branch. With the return to an in-person event, this year’s focus is on strengthening relationships.
U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo will deliver the keynote Thursday in an opening luncheon that also will feature remarks from the chiefs of the South Korean and Australian navies. The day’s discussions will focus largely on large-scale naval operations and the wrap-up of RIMPAC.
Friday will focus on intelligence and information sharing, including a panel on the recently established Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness — an information sharing initiative launched by the U.S., Australia, India and Japan in May aimed at tracking illegal fishing and shipping operations to curb crime and espionage at sea.
Hawaii’s location in the Central Pacific puts it in the center of ocean issues. Maritime industries like shipping and fishing are central to the islands’ economy.
“Overall peace and security of the region on which maritime order depends implicates the future not only of the region and the globe, frankly, but also directly Hawaii in a way unlike any other state,” Limaye said.
Organizers are already discussing what issues to tackle in the future.
“I think probably next year we’re going to do something like rules-based order, or we may look at the Marines and their evolution,” Osborn said. “I’m not sure yet, but by the end of the conference, we will announce next year’s conference dates and what we’re going to talk about, because I kind of learned my lesson this year that we need to be looking forward to run something like this.”
Tickets are on sale at imsehawaii.org.
Virtual registration costs $29. In-person attendance is $449 for general admission and $349 for Navy League members. Registration is free for active-duty service members but does not include meals or special events.
