MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Law of the sea tribunal to rule on November 28 on Argentina’s bid to halt Sea Lion

Because the United Kingdom chose the International Court of Justice and Argentina the Hamburg tribunal, the merits of the case will be decided by an arbitral tribunal

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea will announce on Saturday, November 28, its decision on Argentina’s request for provisional measures to halt the Sea Lion oil project north of the Falklands, after two days of hearings concluded in Hamburg on Wednesday. Argentina presented final requests that were more specific than its initial ones, and the United Kingdom asked the tribunal to reject them all.

According to the tribunal’s statement, the reading of the order is tentatively set for noon on November 28. The date is later than some experts had anticipated, who had put the decision around November 13.

In its final submissions, signed by Argentina’s agent, Ambassador Mario Oyarzábal, Argentina asks that, pending the constitution of the arbitral tribunal that will rule on the merits, the United Kingdom take all necessary measures to ensure that no new drilling for exploitation and no installation of production infrastructure takes place in the North Falklands Basin, referred to in the Argentine filing as the North Malvinas Basin, in connection with Sea Lion. It also asks that the UK refrain from using information obtained during exploration to the detriment of Argentina’s rights, cease preventing Argentina from complying with its obligation to protect the marine environment of the disputed areas, and refrain from measures that might aggravate the dispute, in particular the granting of new exploitation authorisations. In its October request, Argentina had asked more broadly that the start or continuation of exploitation be prevented.

The United Kingdom, in a filing signed by its agent, Sally Langrish, asked the tribunal to “reject all the requests” by Argentina. Attorney General Ellie Reeves, who led the delegation, argued that the tribunal has no jurisdiction over sovereignty issues and warned that blocking the project would “kill” it, with “devastating” consequences for the islanders, who would lose billions of pounds in revenue. “In reality, what Argentina opposes is the Falkland Islands government licensing hydrocarbon activities for the economic benefit of the Falkland islanders,” she told the judges, according to coverage of the hearing.

For Argentina, jurist Marcelo Kohen said the United Kingdom cannot behave like a 17th-century colonial power treating vast expanses of the ocean as its own, according to The Guardian. Argentina also argued that London cannot invoke the sovereignty dispute to escape the tribunal’s jurisdiction while exploiting the resources “as if the dispute had already been resolved in its favour”.

Because the United Kingdom chose the International Court of Justice and Argentina the Hamburg tribunal, the merits of the case will be decided by an arbitral tribunal. Hamburg can only order provisional measures if it finds that tribunal would have prima facie jurisdiction, that there is urgency and that the right invoked is plausible. Sea Lion, operated by Israel’s Navitas Petroleum and Britain’s Rockhopper Exploration, is expected to begin drilling in January 2027.

The hearing took place while Princess Anne is visiting the islands and ahead of the debate on Argentina’s sovereignty defence bill in the Chamber of Deputies, scheduled for Thursday.