What are the common disputes of maritime law?

Introduction

Merchandise and trading have been done from the seas, oceans and even in the ancient centuries for exchanging goods, and materials, different goods were shipped overseas. At that time also many provisions were made for the safe and secure trade of goods. After the commencement of the British Government, there was a boost in overseas trade and at the same time there was fear of exploitation and stealing of goods.[1]

Due to this, many disputes arises and thus, several trade agreements were made by the British government and the jurisdiction related to maritime law was also unhindered. To ensure safe maritime trade the British government formulated different laws governing maritime trade.

Additionally, at present, there are also specific conventions which deal with maritime laws in preventing disputes. the context of maritime laws, in many countries there are several distinct laws which deal with maritime laws and which are different from national laws. Some countries have distinct laws and jurisdictions dealing with only maritime laws.

There are numerous agreements, and accords which are enforced on the navies and coast guards of countries, these all are governed by the United Nations Organizations, done by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Not only this there are several matters which deal with maritime laws, for instance, insurance claims, related to cargo, ships, seamen and piracy.

So, what maritime law does? It modulates the carrying of goods, shipping agreements, registration, inspection and license. But why do countries need maritime law? The answer is simple this law helps in controlling and regulating sea affairs and helps in solving various disputes. It acts like a controller which controls the misbehavior or misuse by the organizations and maintains the commissions.

What are some common disputes in maritime law?

Despite the laws and conventions, there are still maritime disputes happening between the countries. At present, there are recent several incidents related to maritime law, for instance, disputes arising between boundaries, the dispute in the maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal between India and Bangladesh, in this case, Bangladesh’s maritime boundary was extended to the 118,813sq.

For instance, the dispute between the maritime boundary in the South China Sea etc. When we deal in the context of common disputes that arises in maritime law, the most common dispute is maritime boundary disputes, disputes related to trafficking, maritime piracy etc.  

Maritime boundary dispute

The maritime boundary dispute is the most recent in maritime law. Countries from all over the world are taking the issue very seriously as it is affecting their economic growth as well. These disputes lead to the exploitation of goods, and materials through sea trade. This dispute is related to the jurisdiction and every country claims the boundary or jurisdiction for the sake of their profit. Maritime boundary disputes mainly occur with the coastal states.

 But what exactly maritime boundary is? A maritime boundary is an abstract or an empirical split of the Earth’s water surface areas, in which the national appropriate rights on the marine resources. It exists in the settings of adjacent areas and territorial water areas. The depiction of the maritime boundary has implications on the geographical, strategic or economic.

Moreover, when it comes to the context of maritime boundary disputes, it is related to marking the boundary or setting the limit of the distinct maritime zones between different states or among states. Discoursing the area of dispute, majorly occurs in the surroundings of economic, strategic and commercial purposes.

The dispute mainly occurs due to the intersecting of the adjacent states for 12 nautical miles EEZs, which may expand to 200 nautical miles, which can be seen in the case of Cameroon v. Nigeria, Bakassi peninsula, the maritime boundary dispute between Bangladesh and India, Myanmar in the area of Bay of Bengal.[2]

Illicit trafficking

Another common dispute in the field of maritime is illicit trafficking, which is now a very concerning matter for all countries. Illicit trafficking involves smuggling, trafficking of drugs, narcotics, and humans and activities like exchanging of weapons etc.

Recently, the flow has increased in the marine regions and coastal regions. The flow of illicit trafficking can be seen mostly from the region of Arabian Sea, Red Sea and Suez Canal and by these seas, most of the illegal activities are done and get shipped to other countries.

But the weightiest issue is the shipping of weapons and small weapons or arms to other countries via seas. From the region of the Indian Ocean to the Peninsula of Arabian and from the eastern peninsula to countries like Yemen, Afghanistan, Sudan etc. these are the hotspot of illicit trafficking which are linked via seas. The ships can be duped or compelled for trafficking which denotes the dealing of illegal means.

Conclusion

The maritime dispute has become a subject of concern for many countries and mostly the states in the coastal regions. Though there are many conventions, laws, and agreements enacted for solving disputes still there is a lack of negotiation, and arbitration between the countries to solve the issue.

It is high time that the international conventions and the laws of the countries related to maritime must get rational in dealing with this matter. Due to the maritime disputes, countries suffer the most and get bereaved from the utilization of marine resources.

Suggestions

Though, the methods of mediation, and negotiation are effective in solving disputes when the parties get ready to take an effort in the good faith to resolve the disputes.

There should be an effective role of the International Tribunal For the Law of the Sea, the International Court of  Justice in providing more finer recommendations on the solutions to maritime disputes by determining the conclusive boundary by the agreement or by a more peaceful settlement which is given under the Article 33 of the UN Charter.

Moreover, by calling conferences with equal representation and proper decisions for the disputed parties. The international conventions should come forward with effective means and measures to solve the problems of maritime disputes which can be from the means of litigation as there will be no partiality between the parties as the court will decide the matter.

[1] Jus Corpus, Jus Corpus / About AuthorMore posts by Jus Corpus & More posts by Jus Corpus, A Primer on maritime laws in India Jus Corpus (2022), https://www.juscorpus.com/a-primer-on-maritime-laws-in-india/

[2] Additional information Funding this work was supported by the China Scholarship Council [2016GXYO55]. & Reference Aceris Law. 2015. Law of the Sea Dispute Settlement Mechanism, Protracted maritime boundary disputes and maritime laws Taylor & Francis, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/25725084.2018.1564184#:~:text=Maritime%20boundary%20dispute%20is%20occurs,same%20island%20or%20the%20same (last visited Jan 12, 2023).

By: Pratishtha Purohit, a student at Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan.