Can a Third State Conduct Marine Scientific Research in a Disputed Area Without Consent from Any of Two Coastal States?

If a third State wishes to conduct marine scientific research in a disputed
area, it would be faced with a number of questions, all connected to each
other. Firstly, which coastal State it has to apply to for the consent; secondly,
whether it has to apply to both coastal States; and finally whether it
can conduct marine scientific research in the disputed areas without consent
from the any of the coastal States. The coastal States in the disputed
area would also not be free from uncertainty regarding its jurisdiction with
regard to marine scientific research by a third State in the disputed area. In
this uncertainty, the coastal State in the disputed area might wish to refrain
from giving consent to the marine scientific research in the disputed area
lest its consent should aggravate the dispute. Or the coastal State might
give its consent for marine scientific research by a third State in the disputed
area on its own assumption that the disputed area is not disputed and
it has rights to the area.
Can a third State conduct a marine scientific research in the disputed
area without having consent from any of the two contending States? The
answer seems to be no. It seems unreasonable to assume that third States
can undertake marine scientific research without consent from the coastal
States, simply because the area of research is disputed. It should be recalled that the disputed area is not the high sea but part of the exclusive economic zone/continental shelf which is to be delimited, and “the coastal States have
the rights to regulate, authorise and conduct marine scientific research in
their exclusive economic zone and on their continental shelf”. Rather, it
might be the case where the two contending coastal States ask the researching
State to get consent from each of them. Therefore the situation can arise
where the researching State needs to get consent from both coastal States.
It is not clear whether the researching State is required to get plural
consent from all the contending coastal States in order to conduct marine
scientific research. It is probable that the marine scientific research by a
third State in a disputed area will be faced with protest by a coastal State
whose consent it does not have and thus the marine scientific research will
be interrupted. It means that the freedom of marine scientific research by
third States is in fact significantly restricted in the disputed area. Therefore,
the littoral States in the disputed areas need to negotiate for the guarantee
of the freedom of the marine scientific research in the disputed areas, and
it can be done by inserting in the provisional arrangements some relevant
provisions on the research by third parties in the disputed areas.

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