Maritime Tribunal Rejects Plea to Free Italy's Marines
An international maritime tribunal on Monday rejected Italy's request that India provisionally release two marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen, a setback for the Italian government after a three-year legal battle. However the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg also ordered India to suspend legal action against the two Italian marines, saying an international arbitration hearing to be held in The Hague must rule on the dispute. Rome objects to holding a trial in India, arguing that the case should be taken to arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and that the incident happened in international waters where national laws do not apply. The Indian government wants Indian courts to try the case.
Ghana, Ivory Coast Leaders to Discuss Maritime Dispute
The presidents of Ghana and Ivory Coast agreed on Monday to negotiate an amicable end to issues around their maritime dispute, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, who will chair the negotiations, said on Monday. "We have a deal," Annan told Reuters. A source close to the talks later made clear Annan was referring to the fact that he had been able to get the two presidents - Ivory Coast's Alassane Ouattara and Ghana's John Dramani Mahama - to talk. "This is just a start of the process. They are asking Mr. Annan to help them find an amicable solution," the source said. The two presidents will not be discussing the delimitation of the border, the source said, since that is under the jurisdiction of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg.
U.N. Rules for Bangladesh in Dispute with India
A U.N. tribunal has awarded Bangladesh nearly four-fifths of an area sprawling over 25,000 sq km (9,700 sq miles) in the Bay of Bengal, ending a dispute over a sea border with India that has ruffled ties between the neighbours for more than three decades. The verdict, binding on both countries, opens the way for Bangladesh to explore for oil and gas in the Bay of Bengal, the site of important energy reserves. "It is the victory of friendship and a win-win situation for the peoples of Bangladesh and India," Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali told a news conference on Tuesday to announce the ruling of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on the sea boundary. The dispute had hampered the economic development of both countries for more than 30 years, he added.
Industry Organizations Condemns Unilateral Action
The Round Table of international shipping industry organizations, including BIMCO, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), INTERTANKO and INTERCARGO today condemned the continuing contravention of the Law of the Sea Convention by coastal states in the wake of the "Prestige" incident. "Inevitably political and public feelings run high after a major pollution incident, and everyone naturally and understandably sympathizes fully with the people of Galicia in their current difficulties. But that is no justification for the blatantly illegal action taken by the Governments of Spain and France in ordering a number of foreign ships out of their 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone.
