Maritime security assessment
Passive assessment of shipping routes, chokepoints, port approaches, offshore infrastructure and patterns of maritime disruption using lawful information sources.
Independent regional insight · Maritime security · Commercial shipping
Clarity for the waters that connect the Gulf to the world.
The Persian Gulf Security Agency is an independent regional security specialist providing deeply informed assessment of the Persian Gulf and its surrounding maritime environment. It independently issues Enhanced Security Assessment Certificates (ESAC) to sellers, buyers or brokers for proposed physical cargo voyages.
Intelligence architecture:
Designed to collect, collate and assess intelligence from an ecosystem of highly insightful sources covering Gulf-state security, maritime security, commercial shipping and trade.
Regional intelligence, commercially understood
Security analysis shaped by place, people and passage.
The Gulf is both a regional security system and a global commercial artery. Effective analysis requires more than distant observation: it demands sustained attention to local political dynamics, maritime activity, infrastructure, ports, trade routes and the interaction between state and non-state actors.
Core capabilities
Passive intelligence assessment for ESAC decisions
The ESAC system’s Persian Gulf Security Agency (PGSA) collects, evaluates and collates information from an ecosystem of intelligence specialists and other lawful sources. Its capabilities are limited to passive assessment, recorded communication and decisions on whether an ESAC should be granted, modified, suspended, revoked or denied.
Regional security analysis
Independent synthesis of political, military, commercial and societal developments relevant to the Persian Gulf maritime-security environment.
Commercial risk relevance
Translation of assessed security conditions into voyage-specific findings relevant to shipowners, charterers, cargo interests, insurers and trading counterparties.
Intelligence collation
A structured architecture for collecting, comparing and assessing intelligence supplied by an ecosystem of regional, maritime, commercial and security specialists without directing or participating in operations.
Institutional boundary
Independent, non-sovereign and non-operative
The ESAC PGSA is not associated with, endorsed by, directed by or acting on behalf of the Persian Gulf Strait Authority at pgsa.agency, any state, sovereign authority, governmental body or public authority. Scylla & Charybdis respects all sovereign and lawful authorities, and an ESAC does not replace any authorization they require.
The PGSA has no military, paramilitary, law-enforcement, intelligence-operational, interdiction, enforcement or other operative capacity. It does not direct, commission, facilitate or participate in operations and is maintained at arm’s length from sanctioned persons or entities, proscribed terrorist organisations and other unlawful actors.
Analytical approach
Deep regional knowledge. Disciplined independence.
Assessments distinguish established facts, credible reporting, analytical inference and unresolved uncertainty.
Regional depth
Local context is examined alongside strategic and maritime developments.
Commercial relevance
Analysis is framed around decisions faced by legitimate maritime and energy-market participants.
Independent judgement
Conclusions are not presented as advocacy for any government, faction or commercial party.
Independent regional ESAC issuance
The independent ESAC assessment and issuing body for the region.
The Persian Gulf Security Agency is the independent regional security specialist and ESAC-issuing body for the region. It may issue an ESAC to the seller, buyer or broker involved in a proposed physical cargo transaction, following an independent, voyage-specific security assessment.
Its assessment architecture is designed to collect, collate and assess intelligence from an ecosystem of highly insightful sources. This brings together regional security knowledge, maritime activity, commercial shipping conditions, infrastructure exposure and trade-route developments to form a disciplined assessment of the proposed voyage.
The agency is supported by a network of ESAC brokers operating in countries including the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Iran and other countries. Brokers support regional access, communication and administration; analytical judgement and ESAC issuance remain independent functions of the issuing agency.
An ESAC complements, but does not replace, sanctions screening, vessel vetting, insurance, legal advice, commercial due diligence or regulatory compliance.
Explore the ESAC Independent Broker Associates network →Learn about Enhanced Security Assessment Certificates →
Disclaimer
While the agency seeks to develop and maintain deep insight into regional security matters, it takes all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that its activities, relationships, information gathering and services do not provide support to any sanctioned person or entity, or to any organisation proscribed as a terrorist organisation under applicable law. No analytical engagement implies endorsement of any actor, organisation, government or political position. Information is provided for general security-assessment purposes and does not constitute legal, sanctions-compliance or operational advice.