Solomon Islands split over US maritime deal as opposition warns of major sovereignty risks

A new maritime security agreement between Solomon Islands and the United States has sparked a political clash in Honiara.

Former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare warns the deal could hand too much authority to foreign forces in Solomon Islands waters.

The Opposition Leader has called on Prime Minister Matthew Wale’s government to release the full details of the shiprider agreement and allow Parliament to debate it before moving forward.

The agreement, known as the Agreement Concerning Counter Illicit Transnational Maritime Activity, allows Solomon Islands officers to work alongside partner agencies to respond to illegal fishing, drug trafficking and other maritime crimes across the country’s vast Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Sogavare says the agreement risks becoming a one-sided arrangement where foreign vessels gain powers to operate in Solomon Islands waters.

“Agreements of this kind can give a foreign navy legal authority to act in our waters in exchange for a theoretical right Solomon Islands could never realistically exercise,” he said in a statement. “That is not a partnership between sovereign equals.”

Solomon Islands Opposition Leader Manasseh Sogavare says the proposed shiprider agreement with the United States could weaken the country's sovereignty, urging the government to release the full deal for public and parliamentary scrutiny. Photo/OCCRP/Dan McGarry

Sogavare pointed to similar agreements signed by other Pacific countries including Fiji, Vanuatu, Sāmoa, Tonga, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea, saying the arrangements follow a US template that could allow foreign vessels to act when local officers are unavailable.

“Regional commentators have already identified this same imbalance in other Pacific agreements," he said. "That is not reciprocity. It is a one-way transfer of authority dressed up as an equal partnership."

He says Solomon Islands already has existing partnerships that allow international cooperation at sea without changing how legal authority is exercised.

P. Daniel O'Hara, left, the United States Chargé d'Affaires to Solomon Islands, and Prime Minister Matthew Wale after the signing of the US-Solomon Islands shiprider agreement in Honiara. Photo/Solomon Islands government

Prime Minister Wale has rejected the criticism, saying the agreement is about helping Solomon Islands protect its own waters and is giving away control.

“This is not about giving up our sovereignty. Do not mislead our country,” Wale said upon arriving at Honiara International Airport from diplomatic visits to Washington and Japan.

“It is about enforcing our sovereignty, enforcing our laws, and riding on, piggybacking on assets of our partners. That's all it is.”

Wale says Solomon Islands does not have the resources, fuel or number of patrol vessels needed to monitor its 1.35 million square kilometre EEZ alone.

He says the agreement allows Solomon Islands police and fisheries officers to join partner vessels from countries including the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, while Solomon Islands law remains in force.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale says the new shiprider agreement will help the country enforce its own laws at sea, arguing it strengthens rather than surrenders national sovereignty. Photo/X

US Chargé d'Affaires P Daniel O'Hara also moved to address concerns about sovereignty, saying the agreement supports Solomon Islands’ own authority.

“Your officers will enforce your own laws in your own waters,” O'Hara said after signing the agreement in Honiara. “You decide which vessels to investigate. You determine the violations. You set the penalties.”

The agreement was signed aboard the US Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane during its visit to Honiara, although local media were not allowed to attend the signing ceremony.

The deal comes as Solomon Islands continues to navigate growing geopolitical competition in the Pacific.

Watch Manasseh Sogavare's full interview on Tavuli News below.

The government of Sogavare shifted diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China in 2019 and signed a security agreement with Beijing in 2022 while the current Wale administration has moved to strengthen security cooperation with traditional partners.

The government says the shiprider agreement is about protecting Solomon Islands’ ocean resources and enforcing its laws.

But the Opposition says the country must be careful that security partnerships do not come at the cost of national control.