The Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) is currently seeking a PhD Candidate in International Law of the Sea for a project on Regulating Ocean Noise Pollution, starting February 2024. To be eligible, the candidate must be an Australian or New Zealand citizen or an Australian Permanent Resident. Domestic students, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, are encouraged to apply. Applications are welcome until 17 September 2023. For more information see here.
Monthly Archives: August 2023
Japan: Initiation of ALPS treated water discharge into the sea at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station
As previously reported, Japan was considering the discharge of Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) treated water into the sea at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. After an IAEA Review of Safety Related Aspects (4 July 2023) found the proposed approach and activities as consistent with relevant international safety standards, on 22 August 2023 the sixth meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Council concerning the Continuous Implementation of the Basic Policy on Handling of ALPS Treated Water (Japan) decided:
(9）Based on the above, the Government of Japan has decided to initiate the discharge into the sea as indicated in the basic policy, and to request TEPCO to promptly proceed with the preparation work for the start of the discharge into the sea in accordance with Implementation Plan for Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Specified Nuclear Facility (implementation plan) approved by the NRA.
Actions and future measures regarding “Basic Policy on handling of ALPS treated water at the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings’ Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station” (22 August 2023)
(10）If there is no interference due to weather or sea conditions, the discharge into the sea is expected to start on 24 August [2023].
On 24 August 2023 IAEA experts confirmed that Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) started discharging ALPS treated water stored at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station into the sea (IAEA Press Release; TEPCO Press Release (2)). The IAEA will remain present on site throughout the release of treated water and shall provide access to live data from Japan on the release. Furthermore, on 22 August 2023 Japan held its 123rd briefing session, with the significant interest of the international community evident in the number and diversity of (32) participating diplomatic missions, while the IAEA and Republic of Korea (ROK) agreed to establish the IAEA-ROK Fukushima Information Mechanism (IKFIM), which “will provide up-to-date information to ROK and facilitate visits by the country’s experts to the Agency’s office at the site. It also includes an arrangement for notifications in case of abnormal events”.
As recognised in the remarks of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General on 24 August 2023, “there continues to be divergent views and responses in the international community and within the Forum Membership on this issue, and I recognise the sovereignty and prerogative of Forum Members to determine their own national positions”. For example, on 13 July 2023, the EU announced it would lift Fukushima restrictions on food imports, adopted in 2011, but highlighting the importance of monitoring of domestic production for radioactivity, including due publicity, “in particular fish, fishery products and seaweed close to the release site of the ALPS treated water” (lifted 3 August 2023, alongside Norway and Iceland). On 15 August 2023 Switzerland and Liechtenstein lifted restrictions. Meanwhile, on 24 August 2023 South Korea noted it will continue to impose import restrictions on seafood and farm products from Japanese prefectures near the power plant and called for transparency throughout the expected 30 years of ALPS treated water discharges. On 24 August 2023, a statement by China continued to voice its strong opposition to the discharge into the sea as violating international law and suspended the import of all aquatic products originating from Japan (General Administration of Customs Announcement No. 103 of 2023).
Filed under International Organizations, State Practice
Call for Papers: Living Environmental Law
The Law Group of Wageningen University will host the fourth edition of the annual conference, themed, Living Environmental Law, 27-28 March 2024 at Wageningen University and Research (Netherlands). Paper abstracts are welcome until 15 September 2023. For more information see the call for papers.
Vacancy: Ocean Nexus Research Fellow
The Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) Ocean Nexus Program at the University of Wollongong is currently seeking a fixed term (2 years) full-time Research Fellow (post-doc researcher) “to undertake research into equity and transboundary fisheries governance, focusing on tuna fisheries in the Indo-Pacific region”. Applicants from Indo-Pacific small island developing States are particularly encouraged to apply, as are those with experience in international negotiations, government, industry and sustainable development. Applications are welcome until 3 September 2023. For more information see here.
Filed under Vacancies
Events: Floating Offshore Wind Permitting – ‘Norway / Portugal’
The University of Oslo, Department of Energy and Resources Law, and the Catholic University of Portugal, in collaboration with the NorthWind Research Centre, are hosting a webinar on floating offshore wind permitting: comparative approach between Norway and Portugal. The event is focused on the bilateral contacts that have taken place during 2023, both at an official level and a commercial level. To complete the exchange of views across jurisdictions, the organizers seek to provide an academic perspective to the current design of floating offshore wind auctions and permitting rules. The event take place 7 September 2023, and further information may be found here.
Filed under Events
UN: Transfer of Oil From FSO Safer Completed
As previously reported, a deteriorating floating storage and offloading unit, FSO Safer, moored off the coast of Yemen, with an estimated 1.14 million barrels of light crude oil onboard represented a major environmental and humanitarian threat should an oil spill occur. Preparatory works aboard the FSO Safer for the transfer of the oil to another vessel began 30 May 2023 (via the FSO Ndeavor). The ship-to-ship oil transfer to the MOST Yemen (formerly Nautica) was conducted 25 July 2023 – 11 August 2023, resulting in the removal of 1.1 million barrels from the FSO Safer. Remaining efforts include the need to remove and scrap the FSO Safer, as well as “the delivery of a specialized buoy to which the replacement vessel will be safely and securely tethered” (UNSG Statement). For more information see there press releases by the UN, UNSG, Boskalis and video.
Filed under International Organizations
Short Course: Law of the Sea
The British Institute of International and Comparative Law will host the next edition of their short course, entitled, Law of the Sea, 30 November – 1 December 2023, in a hybrid format (London/Online). 3 scholarships are available at BIICL. For more information see here.
Filed under Courses
Calls/Events: IHO 11th ABLOS conference
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)’s Advisory Board on the Law of the Sea (ABLOS) is hosting its 11th conference in Monaco on 11-12 October 2023 (with an ice-breaker event on the evening of 10 October 2023). The meeting’s theme is Ocean Geosciences: From the Past Century to the Future Decade. Topics of interest will include both legal and technical aspect of the international law of the sea including concerning the definition of baselines along the coast, the delineation of the outer limits to zones of maritime jurisdiction including outer continental shelf limits seawards of 200 nautical miles from baselines along the coast, overlapping claims and maritime boundary disputes as well as recent efforts in maritime boundary dispute resolution.
Deadline to submit abstracts is 15 September 2023. The organizers welcome papers devoted to climate change impacts on oceans and coasts, including global sea level rise, and the implications of emerging technologies on law of the sea issues; other proposed papers engaging with contemporary developments at the interface of legal and technical considerations in the international law of the sea are also welcome. More information is available at the event’s webpage.
De Maribus 