Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
ing the transfer of marine technology covered by Part XIV of UNCLOS, Article 271 reads
as follows:
States, directly or through competent international organizations, shall promote the
establishment of generally accepted guidelines, criteria and standards for the
transfer of marine technology on a bilateral basis or within the framework of
international organizations and other fora, taking into account, in particular, the
interests and needs of developing States.
In implementation of this Article, criteria and guidelines for the transfer of marine techno-
logy were also published (IOC,
2005a
). These guidelines provide a fairly comprehensive
definition of marine technology, which 'refers to instruments, equipment, vessels, pro-
cesses and methodologies required to produce and use knowledge to improve the study and
understanding of the nature and resources of the ocean and coastal areas'.
opments in MSR, most notably the use of technologies and infrastructures such as satel-
lites, aircraft, ships of opportunity, autonomous vessels, buoys, and floats, while UNCLOS
assumes research vessels are the primary platform for MSR (Art. 248, UNCLOS). There-
fore, the nature and continuous development of MSR may not be covered by the provisions
of UNCLOS in an adequate way, leaving space for additional guidance to be provided un-
der Article 251.
of meteorological information in the marine environment. In 1979, during the negotiations
for the final text of UNCLOS, the members of the World Meteorological Organization
that the provisions of UNCLOS related to MSR would not 'result in restrictions to oper-
ational meteorological and related oceanographic observations carried out in accordance
with international programmes such as World Weather and the Integrated Global Ocean
Station System'. As defined by the Resolution, relevant activities included operational
