Malta renews agreement to host International Ocean Institute headquarters
Institute has been based in Malta for more than 50 years
Malta has renewed an agreement allowing the International Ocean Institute to continue operating its global headquarters from the island.
Foreign and European Affairs Minister Chris Fearne signed the agreement, which updates the framework governing the institute’s presence in Malta, the government said.
The ministry said the revised arrangement would provide a modern basis for the institute’s operations and strengthen Malta’s role in ocean governance, maritime law, education and the sustainable use of marine resources.
It did not provide details about the duration of the agreement, Malta’s financial commitments or the specific changes made to the existing framework.
Fearne met IOI managing director Antonella Vassallo and ocean governance expert Simone Borg before the signing. Foreign Affairs Ministry permanent secretary Christopher Cutajar was also present.
The meeting focused on the institute’s work in Malta and overseas, particularly its training and education programmes.
Fearne said the sea formed an integral part of Malta’s identity, economy and foreign policy.
The agreement, he said, would allow the country to build on its experience and historical legacy while strengthening its international role in the sustainable governance of the oceans.
The International Ocean Institute is an independent, non-governmental organisation founded in 1972 by Elisabeth Mann Borgese. It focuses on training and capacity-building in ocean governance, particularly for professionals, public officials and policymakers.
Its headquarters are hosted at the University of Malta, while its international network runs educational and training initiatives in different parts of the world.
Malta’s law of the sea legacy
Malta’s association with the institute is closely linked to the country’s role in the development of international maritime law.
In a landmark address to the United Nations General Assembly on November 1, 1967, Malta’s then permanent representative Arvid Pardo proposed that the seabed and ocean floor beyond national jurisdiction should be treated as the “common heritage of mankind”.
The principle held that resources in areas beyond national control should not be appropriated exclusively by individual states or private interests, but managed for the benefit of humanity.
Pardo’s intervention helped set in motion negotiations that eventually led to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which established the legal framework governing the use of the world’s oceans.
Mann Borgese worked closely with Pardo and organised the first Pacem in Maribus conference with him in Malta in 1970, two years before establishing the International Ocean Institute.
The institute has remained headquartered in Malta for more than five decades and coordinates programmes aimed at improving knowledge of maritime policy, international law, environmental protection and the peaceful and sustainable use of the seas.