International law considerations for owners and operators of cabled and buoy observatories

Numerous undersea observatories using cables or buoys are being planned and implemented by scientists and engineers. These projects are being planned with service lives measured in decades. The geographic reach of these systems extends beyond national waters and well into the high seas. Procurement and maintenance of these systems must be cost effective if they are to realize their scientific goals. This objective can be enhanced if the scientists and engineers designing, building, and operating these systems do so with awareness of the responsibilities, liabilities, and advantages accorded marine scientific research under international and maritime law. Generally, these subjects are addressed in the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention 1982 (UNCLOS), as it is supplemented by appropriate national law. This paper provides a basic overview of applicable international law. For purposes of showing the relationship between UNCLOS with national law, U.S. law is utilized, although many nations have similar approaches in their domestic law. In planning an undersea observatory system, a complete and timely analysis of the national law of jurisdictions with a factual nexus to the system is recommended at the earliest stages