Project description
A deep dive into maritime commerce during war
For many years, hybrid warfare has impacted maritime commerce along important navigation routes like Russia’s Kerch Strait (2018) and the Strait of Hormuz (2019). The EU-funded LOSFARE project will study how the law of the sea can contribute to securing the rule of law in major commercial shipping routes affected by hybrid war and conflict. The project will analyse the legitimacy of naval hybrid warfare and conflict by identifying the limitations the law of the sea poses to the jurisdiction of States to impose their political influence on other States. LOSFARE will investigate State practice providing States and decision-makers the knowledge concerning hybrid warfare and conflict challenges.
Objective
LOSFARE focuses on the practice of States in imposing navigational restrictions on foreign ships and aircraft in densely navigated maritime regions in the context of hybrid warfare and hybrid conflict. Foreign ships that were navigating through important chokepoints of maritime commerce have recently been repeatedly subjected to the use of force or coercion by the coastal State of the relevant strait, incl. the Kerch Strait incident in November 2018 and the Strait of Hormuz incidents in the summer of 2019. These incidents have been characterised as examples of hybrid warfare.
Hybrid warfare/conflict poses new challenges for the rights of navigation in important maritime routes. LOSFARE seeks to determine how the law of the sea can contribute to ensuring the rule of law in major commercial shipping routes that are impacted by hybrid warfare/conflict. The objective of LOSFARE is to analyse the legitimacy of naval hybrid warfare/conflict by identifying the limitations under the law of the sea to the jurisdiction of States in imposing their political influence on other States.
To reach this aim, LOSFARE scrutinises State practice and examines whether it has affected the state of the law. This project seeks to verify if State practice demonstrates the emergence of a new concept of hybrid naval warfare/conflict which should be distinguished from the traditional phenomena of naval warfare and law enforcement. LOSFARE also examines if the concept of hybrid warfare/conflict is useful for assessing the (il)legality of an aggressor’s actions in the maritime domain.
As a result, LOSFARE will provide States and decision-makers the knowledge necessary to respond to the challenges posed by hybrid warfare/conflict. LOSFARE will address this need not only by publishing research articles and organising topical workshops, but also via the conclusion of a roadmap-brochure for the policy-makers on how to determine the applicable legal framework in naval hybrid conflict.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinator
9019 Tromso
Norway