Panel for Equitable Maritime Advancement

What happens to the ocean outside of national jurisdictions? Beneath the surface of the world’s oceans lies a new frontier of conflict, competition, and opportunity. As nations race to assert control over contested waters, extract deep-sea resources, and navigate legal grey zones, the Panel for Equitable Maritime Advancement brings together the most urgent issues in maritime law, sovereignty, and global equity. Disputed Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) have become flashpoints for geopolitical tension, with artificial islands, overlapping claims, and naval presence pushing the boundaries of international law.

As states test the limits of UNCLOS, the need for clearer legal frameworks has never been more urgent. Beyond national borders, the seabed is quickly becoming the next site of global extraction, raising complex questions about corporate accountability, environmental ethics, and the future of the International Seabed Authority (ISA). Who profits from the deep sea, and who protects it? Meanwhile, flags of convenience allow vessels to dodge taxes, labor laws, and legal scrutiny, fueling illicit trade and human rights abuses on the high seas. In the ungoverned depths of our world’s oceans, PEMA confronts a defining question: will the seas serve only the powerful or the world?