On 25 March 2025, Professor Robert Beckman, Emeritus Professor at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law and Co-Head of the Ocean Law & Policy Programme at the Centre for International Law (CIL), participated as a panelist at the Singapore Outlook Forum, organized by Lloyd’s List Intelligence during Singapore Maritime Week. The forum was held at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, Singapore. 

Professor Beckman spoke in the forum’s second session, the “Risk and Compliance Roundtable: How Security Risk and Sanctions Have Divided Shipping,” where he shared his expertise on international law with respect to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the international regulation of shipping. He commented on the rise of the so-called “dark fleet” and discussed the implications of sanctions regimes for Southeast Asia, particularly in relation to the major threat of environmental disaster posed by oil spills from unregulated and substandard vessels. 

The forum brought together leading industry figures and experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the maritime sector, with a strong emphasis on the role of legal frameworks in addressing emerging compliance and environmental risks.