Introduction The staggering scale of modern slavery — slavery, servitude, and debt bondage —inhumane treatment, and human trafficking has been well documented. In 2022, the International Labor Organization estimated that roughly 28 million people victims of “forced labour” — labour coerced under threat — with 128,000 people trapped in force labor on fishing vessels around the world. Moreover, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that human trafficking and the use of forced labor are “closely linked” to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the depletion of fish stocks. As fishers continue to deplete fish stocks — more than 34% of stocks are now fished at unsustainable levels — vessels and their crew stay at sea for longer periods in order to remain profitable. Some tuna longliners, for example, stay at sea for months or even years when aided by at-sea transhipment. As fishing voyages lengthen and fuel costs unavoidably rise, vessel owners and operators reduce or eliminate other costs by denying crew members their fundamental…
Law of the Sea
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Why Should a Strict Liability Regime be Adopted for Deep-Seabed Mining Contractors?
Factual Background Deep-seabed mining (“DSM”) is a frontier industry that aims to mine critical minerals, including cobalt and nickel. DSM on the international seabed, the so-called “Area,” is regulated by the International Seabed Authority (“ISA”). DSM carries significant environmental risks, from creating sediment plumes and biodiversity loss to noise and…
Mapping Disputes: The Role of Marine Spatial Planning in Contested Maritime Zones
In April 2025, Greece announced its first marine spatial planning (MSP), accompanied by an official map which divides the Ionian and the Aegean Seas into four different spatial units (See here for the official announcement in Greek – The map is further provided and explained below). While MSP in Greece had been under discussion for years, prompted…
The Latest Trump Threat to International Law: Unilaterally Mining the Area
On 24 April 2025, the White House issued an Executive Order (“Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources”) directing the Administrator of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to “expedite the process for reviewing and issuing seabed mineral exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits in areas beyond national jurisdiction under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral…
Attacks on Submarine Cables and Pipelines: A Self-Defence Approach Complementary to Law Enforcement
Combating sabotage of submarine cables and pipelines is first and foremost a matter of law enforcement. The problem is that the international law of the sea, as traditionally understood, does not provide coastal States with sufficient authority to effectively respond to sabotage activities beyond their territorial waters (for an in-depth discussion, see here). The European…
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