Law of the Sea

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Iran’s Seizure of the Two Greek-flagged Vessels: An International Law Perspective

June 15, 2022

The Facts On 27 May 2022 the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the seizure of two Greek-flagged oil tankers, which sailed in international waters, 22 nautical miles from the Iranian coast (see here the statement quoted by the Iranian State news agency IRNA). The IRGC helicopters landed onboard the Greek vessels “Delta Poseidon” and “Prudent Warrior” and captured the crew. The ships were then directed to Iranian territorial waters, where they are currently anchored, and the crew was transported on shore, under house arrest. Both the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hellenic Coast Guard characterised this action as an act of piracy and protested for the seizure of the vessels (see here the official announcement of the Greek MFA and here the announcement of the Coast Guard in Greek). According to other Iranian State news agencies, the two ships were seized in retaliation for Greece’s seizure of an Iranian oil tanker near the coast of the island of Evia due to EU…

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China as a Maritime Power and the Interpretation of Innocent Passage

May 31, 2022

Maritime powers have been instrumental in shaping the development of the Law of the Sea (LoS). While not uncontested, their inclusion and interpretation of key concepts into the LoS become dominant over time. As a result, expectations increase for other states to accept these or risk being cast as counter-normative actors. Nevertheless, the dominant interpretation of…

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Russia’s Blockade in the Sea of Azov: A Call for Relief Shipments for Mariupol

March 14, 2022

On 24 February 2022, the Russian Federation launched an invasion of Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian civilians have no possibility to evacuate from besieged cities of eastern Ukraine as the humanitarian corridors are not functioning (see here). According to media reports, the worst humanitarian situation right now is found in the port city of Mariupol…

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Can Turkey Close the Turkish Straits to Russian Warships?

February 28, 2022

Following the recent Russian military intervention in Ukraine, Ukraine officially requested Turkey to shut the Turkish Straits to warships pursuant to the 1936 Montreux Convention. While the initial reaction of the Turkish government implied the unwillingness of Ankara, the President of Ukraine put further pressure on Turkey to close…

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Splashing down the International Space Station in the Pacific Ocean: Safe Disposal or Trashing the Ocean Commons?

February 23, 2022

The International Space Station (ISS) is reaching its end of life and will need to be disposed of. NASA plans to do so by de-orbiting the ISS and sinking it into a particular area of the Pacific Ocean known as Point Nemo (named after Captain Nemo, the famous character in the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues…

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