The maritime security phrase had emerged in the late 1990s, the buzzword may have no established working definition, however, the buzzword is termed broadly on several limited key issues per se, piracy and armed robbery or illicit crimes at sea rather than that of maritime security specifically. And by 2003, the issue began to be prioritised as a regional concern, making its pathway into one of the main topics highlighted by the ASEAN Regional Forum (“ARF”) which called for a more comprehensive guideline, this eventually led to the establishment of the ASEAN Maritime Forum (“AMF”). Subsequently, several institutional changes drove maritime security to the forefront of ASEAN.