“The hearing is not about the sovereignty of the Falklands,” the UK prime minister’s official spokesman said.
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea began two days of hearings in Hamburg. Argentina seeks a provisional ruling to suspend the Sea Lion oil drilling project in the South Atlantic, according to Al Jazeera.
The legal challenge targets a joint venture between the UK’s Rockhopper Exploration and Israel’s Navitas Petroleum. They plan to extract oil in waters administered by the Falkland Islands, located 220 kilometres away from the archipelago.
Tribunal Arguments
Representing Argentina at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, legal counsel Marcelo Kohen argued that Britain should not act as a 17th-century colonial power treating surrounding waters as a “Dominium maris Britannici.”
Argentina’s legal team pressed the panel for urgent provisional measures to halt the initiative. They maintained that irreversible harm threatens undisputed maritime zones.
The United Kingdom has no doubt about its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. Our statement in response to the Argentine General Assembly Statement regarding the Falklands: pic.twitter.com/eWw8aS2MDI
“What is at stake cannot be restored,” said Mario Oyarzabal, a legal adviser to Argentina’s ministry of foreign affairs, as reported by the Daily Express.
“Drilling permanently alters the seabed and subsoil,” Oyarzabal said.
Contingency plans submitted by the operating companies indicate an oil spill could reach undisputed Argentine waters within 30 days. Oyarzabal said this, leaving Buenos Aires to bear the environmental consequences while located 12,700 kilometres away from the administering state, according to the Buenos Aires Herald.
Argentina withdrew from a 1995 bilateral cooperation agreement concerning the South Atlantic in 2007. Oyarzabal told the court that “it takes two to tango” but “the United Kingdom prefers to dance alone,” as noted by Marketscreener.
Argentina brought its case before the panel on Tuesday during the hearings at ITLOS. The litigation follows a sequence of actions from Buenos Aires, including President Javier Milei announcing measures against the development in September 2026 and submitting an official request for provisional measures on October 13, 2026.
The Sea Lion oil field holds an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil in place, with 500 million barrels of recoverable resources, according to Rockhopper Exploration. Operations are operated by Navitas Petroleum Development and Production Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Israeli Navitas Petroleum alongside British partner Rockhopper Exploration, with commercial production scheduled to begin in 2028.
In September 2026, Argentine President Javier Milei restated his country’s long-standing claim to the territory. The home houses 3,600 British citizens, and Argentina calls it Islas Malvinas.
The United Kingdom maintains that its sovereignty dates back to 1765. It is accompanied by a continuous, effective peaceful presence and administration since January 1833, aside from the 74-day conflict in 1982.
That conflict began when Argentina invaded the islands on the orders of dictator General Leopoldo Galtieri. It concluded with an Argentine surrender that cost the lives of 649 military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders.
UK Defense
Attorney General Ellie Reeves pushed back against the application. She told the tribunal that Argentina’s legal challenge is a transparent attempt to advance its territorial ambitions under environmental pretexts, according to AOL.
Reeves cautioned that blocking the development would kill the Sea Lion project and inflict devastating economic consequences on island residents.
“In reality, what Argentina opposes is the Falkland Islands government licensing hydrocarbon activities for the economic benefit of the Falkland islanders,” Reeves said to the judges, and she added that the measures sought risk stripping the territory of billions of pounds in revenue essential for its economic future.
The UK government maintained that the Falkland Islands government holds every right to develop its natural resources pursuant to the right to self-determination.
Ahead of the proceedings, the UK Prime Minister’s official spokesman reiterated that London will defend our interests and those of the Falkland Islanders, as reported by Oilprice.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said in September that Argentina lacks the ability to retake the islands. Jack Ford, chair of the Legislative Assembly, said that such claims from Buenos Aires are nothing new and have been repeated over many years.
London formally delivered its written response to Argentina’s notification on November 2, 2026. It rejected the request for provisional measures in its entirety and asked the tribunal to dismiss the filing.
The UK position asserts that the dispute falls outside the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea’s arbitration framework.
Political Pressures
According to the International Bar Association, President Milei previously said that he would review the long-standing policy of neutrality on the Falklands issue.
President Milei shared a photograph of the Argentine legal team in Hamburg with his cabinet. He described their work as “tremendous,” according to The Guardian.
The Hamburg tribunal is expected to hand down its official ruling regarding Argentina’s request for provisional measures on November 28.
