Researchers' Activities

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It was organised by the World Maritime University and Stockton Center for International Law at the U.S. Naval War College and supported by the Transport General Authority of Saudi Arabia.

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Joel Ong presented on highlights from his recent journal article published in the Carbon & Climate Law Review, entitled ‘Decarbonizing International Shipping at the IMO: Are Alternative Fuels The Way Forward?‘ in Session 1: Shipping and GHGs at the IMO, on the developments on ammonia and methanol as alternative fuels at the International Maritime Organization after the 2023 adoption of the Revised GHG Strategy.

Joel Ong, Visiting Scholar, Visiting Researcher Programme with CLIMA – Centre for Climate Change Law and Governance, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, 27-31 May 2024, https://jura.ku.dk/clima/news/2024/joel-ong-jie-hao/

Her presentation discussed the applicability of IMO regulations in regard to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fishing vessels and possible ways forward.

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Joel Ong presented on ‘An Introduction to Maritime Law Careers in Singapore’.

Her article is readily accessible via open access at: https://brill.com/view/journals/apoc/8/2/article-p287_006.xml. She also participated in the ‘Special Sessions on the Newport Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare’ on May 17, 2024.

She delivered introductory remarks for Session 4 on “Non-Traditional Maritime Security Issues: Combating Piracy, Illegal Fishing and Human Trafficking,” focusing on the forced labor and trafficking aspects of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Joel Ong presented his key findings and research on climate change and shipping at the IMO, entitled: ‘Developments, Barriers, Prospects of Mitigating Shipping’s Impact on Climate Change at the IMO: A Diachronic Approach’.

She discussed the progress and prospects of protecting the human rights of fishers in Southeast Asia, and how law of the sea and international human rights law can better interact.

Joel Ong presented on ‘Maritime Cybersecurity: Implications of Digitalisation and Decarbonisation’.

This visit fostered a deeper understanding of MPA’s work, and how Singapore manages maritime traffic through one of the busiest straits in the world, the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, and in its port waters.

It examines how the International Maritime Organization (IMO) – the United Nations specialized agency responsible for safe, secure and efficient shipping and the prevention of ship-source pollution – attempts to regulate shipping emissions, and why it is important to examine the implications of alternative fuels development to climate change and reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping.

Participants discussed the mapping of regional biogeography in the Indian Ocean, as well as explored ways forward for IORA member states regarding the implementation of area-based management tools in the BBNJ Agreement.

As a member of the Committee nominated by the ILA Singapore Branch, Dita will contribute to the Committee’s work for the next 4 (four) years, focusing on the jurisdiction of states for the purpose of protecting people at sea.

This expert working group meeting invited participants from academia, government and industries to set the stage for the next steps towards the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-4), and to discuss the establishment of a working group on extended producer responsibility (EPR) to enhance waste management in ASEAN member states.

The panel discussed various legal issues in Southeast Asia and lessons/best practices on regional maritime cooperation.

She presented her draft article about informal lawmaking in ASEAN. Professor Natalie Klein from UNSW served as a commentator for her article.

The event focused on the theme “Threats from the Global Commons.” She shared her forthcoming article about “Threats to Commercial Shipping During International Armed Conflicts.”

This workshop invited contributors to the APEC OFWG White Paper on Microplastics in Coastal Aquaculture Systems: Development of Regulatory Frameworks, Practices and Mitigation Efforts in APEC Economies to further discuss a mitigation/prevention plan for microplastics in the coastal aquaculture input chain in APEC economies.

Dr. Nilufer Oral was a member of the panellists at the informal plenary meeting.

She also presented in a panel on “SMART Cables” at Submarine Networks 2023, a conference that brings together the telecommunications industry in Singapore, on 28 September 2023.

She presented on “Southeast Asian Approaches to the Protection of Submarine Cables: Problems and Prospects for Cooperation.”

On October 26, 2023, Dita led a session on “Interception,” covering maritime zones, jurisdiction at sea, and grounds for interception under international law. The following day, October 27, 2023, Dita covered “Search and Rescue (SAR) at Sea” module, focusing on the international legal framework and the three phases of emergency set out in the SAR Convention. On both days, Dita also facilitated simulation exercises involving scenarios of smuggling of migrants by sea.

For the full conference programme, click here. To view Prof Beckman’s PowerPoint slides, click here.

Investigative reports have exposed the tragic working conditions experienced by some fishers in Southeast Asia. These fishers often find themselves labouring nearly around the clock with minimal access to essential provisions like food, water, and medical care. The situation is exacerbated by instances where those in need of medical assistance are abandoned at sea. To make matters worse, fishers are susceptible to various forms of abuse, including physical and sexual, inflicted by the vessel’s master or fellow crew members. The inability to leave the vessel compounds the abuses endured by these individuals, particularly considering the prolonged durations fishing vessels spend at sea.

His presentation was on “The Impact of the 2023 High Seas Treaty on Commercial Shipping”. For the abstract of this presentation and his PowerPoint slides, click here.

Prof Beckman delivered the keynote speech in Session 1, which was entitled “South China Sea: International Law Perspectives”.

Dr. Davenport gave a lecture on “Deep seabed mining and submarine cables.” More information on this initiative is available here: https://www.isa.org.jm/deep-dive/

Her presentation is available here.

The theme of the conference was ‘Future of Environmental Law in ASEAN and Beyond.’ On August 17^th, 2023, Dita presented on the topic of ‘Ocean Equity.’

On 9 August 2022, Dita delivered two presentations, covering the status of maritime boundaries in Southeast Asia, the ongoing requests for advisory opinions on sea level rise, and UNCLOS dispute settlement mechanisms in the Southeast Asian context.

TRILA Team co-organised the Junior Scholar Workshop at the University of Indonesia, Faculty of Law.

Dr. Davenport presented on “UNCLOS, IMO and Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships,” in Plenary Session 3 on Maritime Autonomous Surface Vessels.

The theme of this year’s MILOPS was ‘Cooperating to Defend the Rules-Based International Order in the Indo-Pacific.’

The conference, hosted by the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN) and Verification Research, Training, and Information Centre (VERTIC), focused on managing and mitigating incidents and escalation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Dita Liliansa delivered a presentation titled ‘Regional Cooperation on Fishing Vessel Safety in Southeast Asia” at the 2023 International Marine Economy and Maritime Services Forum in Ningbo, China (17-19 July 2023).

The 26^th Rhodes Academy was attended by 48 students from 29 countries from all regions of the world, including participants from four countries in Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore. CIL sponsored the participation of Taufik Rachmat Nugraha of Indonesia, who is currently an ASEAN Visiting Fellow at CIL.

The only Singaporean participant at the 26^th Academy, Amanda Chong from the Attorney-General’s Chambers, who did Singapore proud by receiving an award for being the top student in the written examination. The top student in the oral examination was Ms. Aliki Gkana from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece.

28 June 2023: CIL Director Dr Nilüfer Oral was Invited by Durham University to Speak at the IPDM Annual Conference on “Maritime Security in a Changing World”.

This workshop, whose participants were mostly natural scientists, focused on four current issues and specific case studies on (1) marine plastics, (2) blue carbon, (3) shared fish stocks and fisheries refugia, and (4) marine protected areas, area-based management tools and endangered species. Each session had two specialised trainers: a scientist and a lawyer.

The Keynote focused on the Law-Science to policy interface to protect coral reef systems and emphasised the respective role of science and law to inform policy-making by governments and the importance of underused provisions of international law to protect the marine environment including coral reef systems and associated species. The presentation slides can be viewed here.

The lecture focused on the development of Seabed Mining under the Law of the Sea Convention 1982 Part XI ‘The Area’ and what ‘Space Mining’ can do based on The Area development to ensure the safety and security aspects of future space mining.

Dita Liliansa delivered a presentation titled “Indonesia’s Archipelagic State Concept: History and Development” at the Workshop on Land, Sea, and Archipelago: The Conflict in the South China Sea and New Directions in Geopolitics (Hybrid, 8 June 2023).

The podcast episode can be accessed at the following link: https://cimsec.org/sea-control-434-can-indonesia-stop-the-transit-of-aukus-subs-with-dita-liliansa/

Prof Robert Beckman participated in a Roundtable Discussion on “Securing Digital Connectivity” Global Issues: Global Approach” at the ATxSummit.

The event was a side-line event of the 8^th International Maritime Security Conference 2023, jointly organised by S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) and the Australia National Centre for Ocean Resources & Security (ANCORS) on 5 May 2023 in Singapore.

The details of the presentation are available at here.