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So do I have to take any permission from any international body if I start any commercial operation in the International waters such as drilling for oil or basically I have to just start an exploratory mission and then just start whatever commercial operation I want.Who handles commercial disputes in International waters ?

[No just considering the oil exploration and considering wider position on authority over international waters]

Rick Smith
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  • @SJuan76 Sorry but oil exploration is somewhat a small part of this question - I am also asking about the wider commercial operations in the International waters –  Mar 24 '18 at 14:12
  • @SJuan76: I guess that other question could be closed as a duplicate of this more general question. – chirlu Mar 24 '18 at 14:23
  • @chirlu Already voted to close the other question –  Mar 24 '18 at 14:27
  • @chirlu it is usually expected for the people posting questions to do a minimum search to see if it is already answered. I do not know how the person posting the related question could have done that, since THIS is the new question... And the answer is general enough to consider this question a duplicate (YMMV). Closing the old question because someone posts a new question that is a duplicate is just plain nonsense. – SJuan76 Mar 24 '18 at 14:32
  • @SJuan76: The other question doesn’t address fishing, sailing etc. in international waters. I’m aware that many people are hesitant to close an older question as a duplicate of a newer, though; it may be a semantic issue with the word “duplicate”. – chirlu Mar 24 '18 at 15:04
  • @SJuan76 - "The answer is just plain enough to consider this question as duplicate " - Duplication doesn't involves answer but whether the question is duplicate or not - I have clearly mentioned that this question doesn't specifically involve just oil exploration but also other international laws involving non-seabed based commercial operation so your logic about this question being duplicate is false. Moreover an older question can be duplicate of a new question because chronological order doesn't effects duplicacy . –  Mar 24 '18 at 15:21

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International waters are generally available to anyone. You may sail there, do fishing, lay sea cables, and do many other things without asking anyone for permission.

It is a bit different, however, for the seabed under the international waters. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea established a regulation body, the International Seabed Authority (ISA), to watch over the exploitation of the seabed. Generally, you need approval from the ISA for commercial operations affecting the seabed (with a few exceptions such as the sea cables that I already mentioned, and pipelines, too).

As of now, nobody is trying to drill for oil under international waters, for it might not be geologically or economically viable. The ISA is concerned with polymetallic nodules and similar deposits, though, and has already authorized a number of exploration contracts.

chirlu
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  • "For geological reasons, there probably is no oil to be found under the High Seas" - You sure about that? I vaguely collect reading that there was a lot of methane on the ocean floor (as methane clathrate), plus occasional pockets of oil (through accumulation of perished marine life). – Denis de Bernardy Mar 24 '18 at 13:37
  • Is there any seabed which not part of any continental tectonic plate ?? –  Mar 24 '18 at 14:09
  • @Aashish Loknath Panigrahi: Yes, there are some plates that only consist of oceanic crust (especially in the Pacific); but more relevant is that all the continental plates also have portions of oceanic crust. – chirlu Mar 24 '18 at 14:13
  • @chirlu So who will have jurisdiction over those plates because ISA cannot stop a company or nation to exploit resources over certain tectonic plates which isn t part of any nation 's seabed –  Mar 24 '18 at 14:17
  • @Denis de Bernardy: Not wholly sure, and since the statement is not important here, I’ve removed that part. (I guess one could ask about it on Earth Science SE …) – chirlu Mar 24 '18 at 14:19
  • @Aashish Loknath Panigrahi: Well, the international community represented by the United Nations and the ISA has jurisdiction, that’s the whole point. Whether anyone could stop a party determined to break international law is a different issue. – chirlu Mar 24 '18 at 14:21
  • @chirlu but how can anyone have jurisdiction over seabed which doesn't falls in the any tectonic plate –  Mar 24 '18 at 14:24