If you don’t like looking at wind farms, why not build them at sea?

The Australian government appears to be intent on scaling back wind farms in Australia. A Senate inquiry has recommended increasing regulation for wind farms in response to health concerns, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott recently commented to radio host Alan Jones that his government has managed to reduce the number of “these things” [wind turbines], but he personally would have preferred “to have reduced the number a whole lot more”. But there’s another solution that would continue to build the capacity of wind energy while removing possible impacts on land-holders: put wind farms out to sea

Maritime boundary delimitation in the gulf of Thailand

The Gulf of Thailand, bordered by Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, encapsulates many of the challenges facing coastal states seeking to resolve questions of jurisdiction worldwide. Among the key considerations for maritime boundary delimitation in the Gulf of Thailand are the fact that the Gulf is a relatively confined semi-enclosed sea. This necessitates maritime boundary delimitation betweenneighbouring states. A major constraint is also posed by the Gulf's complex coastalgeography, including the presence of numerous islands, large and small. The existenceof competing sovereignty claims to islands, has also complicated the development ofclaims and retarded attempts to resolve maritime boundary delimitation disputes.The problems posed by the existing national jurisdictional claims are also significant. There are multiple unresolved maritime boundary delimitations, lengthy straight baseline claims, maximalist unilateral maritime claims resulting in extensive areas of overlapping claims, and a number of undefined jurisdictional claims as well as claims based on alleged historic rights. Additionally, there exist a number of maritime boundary agreements, aspects of all of which are subject to interpretation, and several joint development or interim joint arrangements, which serve to defer delimitation and are themselves potentially open to question. These factors have to be set against the complexities of the coastal states' political and economic characteristics together withthe opportunities and challenges associated with the Gulf of Thailand itself. This study examines critically the development of the Gulf of Thailand coastal states' maritime claims and existing maritime boundary agreements with a view to exploring the challenges associated with resolving the remaining undelimited boundary situations. Its key aims can be summarised as follows: • to examine the interplay between between the disciplines of law and geography in the application of the law of the sea to the geographical realities of the Gulf of Thailand; • to analyse the baseline claims of the littoral states; • to review and evaluate unilateral national claims to maritime jurisdiction;• to provide an overview and analysis of existing maritime boundary agreements within the Gulf of Thailand; • to analyse unsettled boundary delimitations and disputes;• to offer prospects for the future including the options for maritime boundarydispute resolution in the Gulf of Thailand. Despite the obstacles to maritime boundary delimitation in the Gulf of Thailand outlined in this study, there are signs of progress and prospects for the future, particularly in the wake of the geopolitical transformation of the region in the 1990s, must be considered to be good

Why the world is wary of China’s ‘great wall of sand’ in the sea

China’s neighbours have accused it of destroying an estimated 120 hectares of coral reef systems in the disputed Spratly Islands through land reclamation. EPA/Armed Forces of the Philippines. The leaders of Southeast Asian nations recently took the extraordinary step of warning China that its island-building activities in the contested South China Sea “may undermine peace, security and stability” in the region. That’s strong language from the usually reticent 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and shows just how high tempers are flaring over what has been called China’s “great wall of sand” in a strategically important area. The commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Harry Harris, has described China’s island enhancement program as part of a “pattern of provocative actions” towards smaller South China Sea states. But island-building in regions like the Spratly Islands plays well to China’s nationalistic domestic audience and also appears to be aimed at reinforcing China’s territorial and maritime claims in a potentially resource-rich area. Such activities could, however, have dire consequences for the region’s marine environment and vital fisheries. Ensuring stability and maritime security in this area is crucial to Australian and global interests. An estimated 60% of Australian trade passes through the South China Sea, with US$5 trillion in trade overall flowing through the region

Defining EEZ claims from islands: A potential South China Sea change

In the face of seemingly intractable territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea, the article examines how the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC), sets out what maritime claims States can make in the South China Sea and how it establishes a framework that will enable States to either negotiate maritime boundary agreements or negotiate joint development arrangements (JDAs) in areas of overlapping maritime claims. It provides an avenue whereby the maritime claims of the claimants can be brought into line with international law, potentially allowing for meaningful discussions on cooperation and maritime joint development based on areas of overlapping maritime claims defined on the basis of the LOSC

Another Titanic change is needed to save more lives at sea

How has our approach to saving lives at sea changed since the tragedy of the RMS Titanic in which 1,523 of the 2,228 people she was carrying died a century ago? Surprisingly, not much. Only this April the South Korean ferry Sewol capsized claiming 288 lives so far, many high school students

The Arctic Ocean: Boundaries and Disputes

publishedVersio

Fishing, not oil, is at the heart of the South China Sea dispute

Contrary to the view that the South China Sea disputes are driven by a regional hunger for seabed energy resources, the real and immediate prizes at stake are the region\u27s fisheries and marine environments that support them. It is also through the fisheries dimensions to the conflict that the repercussions of the recent ruling of the arbitration tribunal in the Philippines-China case are likely to be most acutely felt. It seems that oil is sexier than fish, or at least the lure of seabed energy resources has a more powerful motivating effect on policymakers, commentators and the media alike. However, the resources really at stake are the fisheries of the South China Sea and the marine environment that sustains them

Transparency and Predictability in the Maritime Delimitation Process:Reverse-engineering the Somalia-Kenya Adjudicated Boundary

This article analyses the adjudicated boundary between Somalia and Kenya in the Indian Ocean through an integrated law-and-science approach. Using recent high-resolution satellite imagery and specialised boundary software, it seeks to \u27reverse-engineer\u27 the 12 October 2021 ruling of the International Court of Justice with a particular focus on issues of transparency and predictability. The article highlights how ambiguities in the identification of basepoints underlying an adjudicated boundary and the reliance on a relatively small-scale nautical chart based on dated surveys that does not reflect the physical reality of the relevant coast could undermine the authority of an adjudicated boundary obtained after years of legal proceedings. Addressing the issue of technical support in decision-making on adjudicated boundaries, the article proposes various means to reduce controversies regarding maritime boundary delimitation and to make the delimitation process more transparent and predictable. Keyword