The IORA event was organised under the Foundation’s Maritime Governance Project
The Max Planck Foundation together with the Ministry of Foreign Relations of the Government of Sri Lanka co-organised and participated in a webinar on “the Nexus between Marine Scientific Research (MSR) and Maritime Safety and Security (MSS).” The online event took place on 20 November 2020, under the auspices of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security (WGMSS) which is currently chaired by the Government of Sri Lanka.
The webinar was opened by Johannes Krusemark-Camin, one of the Foundation’s Managing Directors, and it was moderated by Ambassador Hasanthi U. Dissanayake, Director General for Ocean Affairs, Environment and Climate Change at the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Sri Lanka. The event examined the interlink between MSR and MSS, with a focus on the Indian Ocean region, and in particular how the MSR regime established under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and other existing international instruments can contribute to preventing safety and security threats in the region.
Eminent speakers from the Sri Lankan Government, the Navy and academia shared their knowledge on the theme. The panel of experts included Professor Rüdiger Wolfrum, one of the Foundation’s Managing Directors and former Judge and President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS); and Sir Michael C. Wood, member of the UN International Law Commission as well as Legal Adviser and Agent for many law of the sea cases before ITLOS, the International Court of Justice and inter-State arbitral tribunals; he is also Chairperson of the Foundation’s Scientific & Development Policy Advisory Committee.
The webinar was attended by over 60 officials, mostly from IORA Member States. A report of the event prepared by the Foundation’s staff will be shared with the IORA Secretariat and with participants in the forthcoming weeks.