This year’s World Maritime Day, themed, Seafarers: at the core of shipping’s future, will include various webinars on 30 September 2021. IMO shall host a webinar, entitled, Seafarers: at the core of shipping’s future; UNCTAD and ITF shall host a webinar, entitled, The Crewing Crisis: Seafarers concerns in times of the pandemic and beyond; and AIS Forum shall host a webinar, entitled, Connecting Maritime Governance with the Achievement of the SDGs in Archipelagic and Island States.
Monthly Archives: September 2021
AOSIS: Leaders’ Declaration 2021
On 22 September 2021 the Alliance of Small Islands (AOSIS), during a virtual AOSIS Leaders’ Summit, endorsed The Alliance of Small Islands Leaders’ Declaration 2021. The Leaders’ Declaration focuses on climate change, sustainable development and the ocean. This includes recognising states’ ocean-related responsibilities (preamble), the existing impacts of climate change on SIDS (para. 3), concerns over GHG emissions from shipping and the need for action (para. 15), the BBNJ Agreement process (paras. 39-40), fixed baselines and outer limits of maritime zones – once given due publicity (para. 41), marine plastic pollution –and more generally the need for a new legally binding global agreement on plastic pollution– (paras. 42-43) and enhancing technology transfer, scientific knowledge and recognition of traditional knowledge (para. 44).
Filed under State Practice
Calls: International Law and Technological Progress
The University of Aberdeen will host a conference, entitled, International Law and Technological Progress Conference 2022, 23-24 June 2022, in a hybrid format. Several law of the sea topics are included in the call, and one could envisage further suitable topics. Abstracts are welcome until 20 December 2021. For more information see here.
Ecuador: Preliminary Information submission to CLCS
On 20 September 2021 Ecuador submitted, in respect of three regions, its Preliminary information indicative of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). For more information see here.
Filed under International Organizations, State Practice
Webinar: The Ever-Expanding Remit of UNCLOS Tribunals
Rajah & Tann LLP, Fietta LLP, Duxton Hill Chambers, David Grief International Consultancy and the University of Sydney shall host a webinar, entitled, The Ever-Expanding Remit of UNCLOS Tribunals, 6 October 2021, via Zoom. for more information see here.
Filed under Events
Webinar: Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise
The University of Trento, Faculty of Law shall host a webinar, entitled, Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise: Legal Consequences from the Law of the Sea, Statehood and Affected Persons Perspectives, 1 October 2021, via Zoom. For more information see here and the programme.
Filed under Events
Webinars: MARIPOLDATA Ocean Seminar Series (Sept 21 – Jan 22)
The previously reported monthly webinars, MARIPOLDATA Ocean Seminar Series, hosted by the MARIPOLDATA research project, has released their programme for September 2021 – January 2022. The next event, entitled, Deep-Sea Mining and the International Seabed Authority: Recent Developments, key outstanding issues and contrasting narratives is scheduled for 29 September 2021. For more information see here.
Filed under Events
Webinar: Reconceptualizing the “Spaces” of International Law
Independent International Legal Advocates (IILA), together with the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) Seminar at UCLA Law and the International Arbitration Group of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher LLP, will host a seminar, entitled, Reconceptualizing the “Spaces” of International Law, 28 September 2021, via Zoom. For more information see here.
Filed under Events
Vacancy: PhD Scholarship at the University of New South Wales
The Maritime Security Research Group in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra is currently advertising a PhD candidate position, including scholarship, entitled, Small States and Climate Change Litigation under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Application are welcome until 15 October 2021. For more information and how to apply see here.
Filed under Vacancies
Webinar: Science before International Tribunals – Deference of Distrust?
The Università di Milano and the Federal University of Minas Gerais shall host a webinar, entitled, Science before International Tribunals: Deference of Distrust?, 1 October 2021, via MS Teams. For more information see the programme and registration.
Filed under Events
IUCN: motion on a deep seabed mining moratorium passed
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) passed a motion on 7 September 2021 calling for a moratorium on deep seabed mining and a halt to the International Seabed Authority’s (ISA) issuing of new contracts for mining and for exploration of mining sites until certain conditions are met. Those conditions include conducting rigorous and transparent scientific research and impact assessments to comprehensively understand the environmental, social, cultural, and economic damage that mining could cause, and ensuring the effective protection of the marine environment. More information is available in the IUCN Motion 069.
Filed under Non-State Actors
Summer Academy on the Continental Shelf 2021
The Summer Academy on the Continental Shelf (SACS), organised by the University of the Faroe Islands and the African Institute on International Law, shall be held 12-18 December 2021 in Arusha, Tanzania. Applications are welcome until 1 October 2021.
Filed under Courses
Webinar: International Law and Rule of Law Approach in the Indo-Pacific Region
The S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) and the Embassy of Japan shall host a webinar, entitled, International Law and Rule of Law Approach in the Indo-Pacific Region, 28 September 2021, via Zoom. For more information see here.
Filed under Events
Vacancy: Research Fellow (postdoc) at the University of Wollongong
The Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources & Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong (Australia) is currently seeking applicants for a postdoctorate position, entitled, ANCORS Ocean Nexus Fellow, funded by the Nippon Foundation’s Ocean Nexus Program. Applications are welcome until 14 October 2021.
For more information see here.
Filed under Vacancies
Events/Calls: Nordic Environmental Social Science Conference (NESS)
The 15th Nordic Environmental Social Science Conference (NESS) shall be hosted on 7-9 June 2022 at the School of Global Studies, Gothenburg, Sweden. The theme of this year’s edition is emergency and transformation. Two deadlines are open: submitting workshops by 1 October, 2021 and submitting abstracts for workshop papers by 15 December, 2021. One of the panels is specifically devoted to ocean governance, and many others allow for marine/maritime themes as well. More information is available here.
China: revised Maritime Traffic Safety Law enters into force
The 2021 revision of the Maritime Traffic Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China (Order No. 79 of the President of the People’s Republic of China) entered into force on 1 September 2021. This Order was issued on 29 April 2021, and it introduces new reporting requirements on foreign vessels entering China’s territorial seas. The reporting requirements apply to the following vessels:
- submersibles;
- nuclear powered vessels;
- ships carrying radioactive materials;
- ships carrying bulk oil, chemicals, liquefied gas and other toxic and harmful substances;
- other vessels that may endanger the maritime traffic safety.
An official explanation for the revision of the law may be found at the Chinese Government website (in Chinese). An English translation is also available here.
Filed under State Practice
Vacancies: UN DOALOS Legal Officers
The Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations is currently advertising two positions within the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS), entitled, (1) Senior Legal Officer and (2) Associate Legal Officer. Applications are welcome until 29 September 2021 and 13 October 2021, respectively.
Filed under Vacancies
Book Launch: Marine Plastic Pollution and the Rule of Law
The Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (NUS) will host a book launch, entitled, Marine Plastic Pollution and the Rule of Law, 20 October 2021, online (Zoom). For more information see here.
Filed under Events
United Kingdom/Antigua and Barbuda: maritime delimitation agreement signed
The governments of Antigua and Barbuda and of the United Kingdom (UK) have signed on 27 July 2021 an agreement defining Antigua and Barbuda’s maritime jurisdiction. The agreement sets out the boundary between Antigua and Barbuda and Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory. The waters of Antigua and Barbuda border those of Anguilla (UK) to the northwest, Saint Barthélemy (France) to the northwest, the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis to the west, Montserrat (United Kingdom) to the southwest, and Guadeloupe (France) to the southeast. With this new treaty, the Antigua and Barbuda has delimited three of its five maritime boundaries. Only the boundaries with St Kitts and Nevis and Monserrat remain to be negotiated. More information is available at the Commonwealth homepage (here) and at the social media webpage of HM Governor’s Office in Anguilla (here).
Filed under State Practice
Webinar: How Indonesia Became An Archipelagic State
The next session of the International Law Association (ILA) Mochtar Memorial Lecture Series, entitled, Mochtar and The Law of the Sea – How Indonesia Became An Archipelagic State, will take place 9 September 2021, via Zoom.
For more information see here.
Filed under Events
Chile/Argentina: Continental Shelf Differences
On 23 August 2021 Chile promulgated amendments to Decree 95: Determina Las Áreas Jurisdiccionales Marítimas Nacionales Desde Punta Puga A Islas Diego Ramírez (source), adding reference to the outer limit of the continental shelf and including a map. On 28 August 2021, Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship issued Press Release 344/21 (source) objecting to this claim and seeking resolution through dialogue.
Filed under State Practice
De Maribus 
