Argentina asks the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to halt the UK's Sea Lion oil project near the Falklands
13 October 2026
Argentina has asked the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to order the United Kingdom to halt an offshore oil project near the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).
The Hamburg-based tribunal announced the request on Tuesday.
Argentina wants the Sea Lion development in the North Malvinas Basin stopped while an arbitration case it launched on 28 September is under way.
The UN lists the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) as a non-self-governing territory.
Britain has administered the islands since 1833; Argentina claims sovereignty, and the two countries fought a war over them in 1982.
President Javier Milei had given London a two-week ultimatum over the project.
In plain words
ITLOS International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea — The court set up under UNCLOS to settle disputes over the law of the sea, seated in Hamburg.
Non-self-governing territory — A territory the UN lists as not yet having attained a full measure of self-government.