Mr. Masamichi Hasebe (member of the Nippon Foundation Scholarship Selection Committee, and Member of the IMLI Governing Board) visited the IMO International Maritime Law Institute on 7 March 2017 and gave a lecture on the ‘Arctic Continental Shelf Claims’ to the IMLI Class of 2016– 2017.

Mr. Masamichi Hasebe began his lecture by explaining in detail how climate change has led to the fast warming nature of the Arctic Ocean with a record ice retreat in 2007 and consequently having a far-reaching economic, environmental, and security-related consequences for the coastal States. He also noted that the effect of climate change on the Arctic Ocean has made it resurfaced, from a peaceful and stable arena for growing intergovernmental and non-governmental cooperation since the end of the Cold War to a region of global geopolitical relevance with increased international attention. Mr. Hasebe examined the implications of climate change leading to the decline of ice and opening of new frontiers for competition over natural resources. The melting of the ice has also opened up new navigation routes for ships and other potential opportunities such as hydrocarbons exploitation, mining and transportation.

Furthermore, the Class learned that the melting of the ice has led to overlapping continental shelf claims by the Arctic coastal States and thus a potential source of dispute among the concerned States. Mr Hasebe also examined how the Arctic Ocean became an element of national identities and narratives and how the same has helped shape the Arctic policies of the respective coastal States.

On how the concerned States have approached these challenges, which is referred to as the “scramble” for the Arctic, Mr. Hasebe explained that the five coastal States (Canada, Denmark concerning Greenland, Norway, Russia and the US met in Ilulissat, Greenland, in May 2008 and adopted a declaration (the Ilulissat Declaration). The Declaration affirmed not just their sovereign rights to the Ocean, but more importantly, their commitment to the peaceful settlement of any possible overlapping claims on the basis of international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. They concluded that there was no need to develop a new legal regime to govern the Arctic Ocean. Notwithstanding, they emphasised the importance of bilateral and multilateral cooperation to guide further their engagement concerning the opportunities presented by climate change.

Other topics discussed during the lecture, which enhanced students’ appreciation of the issues at stake in the Arctic governance include the official Arctic policies and strategies of all the five coastal States respectively.

The class was appreciative of Mr. Hasebe’s lecture as it helped them understand the fact that maritime delimitation in some circumstances can be marred by economic and geopolitical imperatives.

Mr. Masamichi Hasebe is a visiting professor at the universities of Kobe and Takushoku in Japan. He is a member of many professional bodies such as the British Maritime Law Association, Japanese Society of International Law, Japan Society of Transport Economics and Japan Society of Logistics and Shipping Economics, just to mention a few.

He served as Deputy Director General, Minister’s Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (July 2014-Aug. 2015), Chief Researcher, Daiwa Institute of Research (June 2011- June 2014), Deputy Director-General, Kanto Transport Bureau Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), GOJ, (July 2009- May 2011) and Deputy Commander, Japan Coast Guard (July 2008- June 2009).

Mr. Hasebe has written extensively in many areas of his practice. Some of his articles included the ‘Examination of British Tonnage Tax System’, published in the Journal of Logistics and Shipping Economics (2008); the ‘Legal Implications of Free Trade Agreement on the Trade Liberalization of Maritime Transport’, published in the Journal of Logistics and Shipping Economics (2012) and the ‘International Legislative Framework of the Use of Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel (PCASP) to Defend against the Threat of Piracy’, published by Japan Captain’s Association (2013).