http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee 306 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 10 / 2017 The most heated issue in dispute is perhaps the Lomonosov Ridge. However, while Koivurova and Conde believe that an agreement like the Barents Sea treaty is unlikely, they do believe that the dispute will be settled peacefully. The solutions most likely to put an end to the dispute involve the CLCS: “either a joint proposal will be submitted, they will negotiate their respective delimitation lines or the proposal they submit to the CLCS will not address the sections that overlap so that these can be negotiated at the last minute. There is even the possibility that the issue will not be resolved and will remain open”137. The question now is what will happen to the territories not recognised as being under the sovereignty of any State. The answer to this question again lies with the UNCLOS, which has spoken of the creation of the ISBA138 to manage those parts of the ocean known as the “common heritage of mankind”139 in allusion to the Maltese Ambassador Arvid Pardo’s 1967 proposal to create an international organisation to oversee the management of the world’s seabeds140. Finally, we should mention the settlement of disputes by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In 2009, in the case concerning maritime delimitation in the Black Sea (Romania v Ukraine), the ICJ based its ruling on the equidistance principle141 (the same one used in the Barents Sea treaty). Hence, we can expect to see peaceful settlement of disputes based on the equidistance principle and delimitations similar to the ones provided for in the agreement between Norway and Russia. CONCLUSIONS For centuries, the most powerful nations dreamt of discovering and conquering the North Pole. Hundreds of brave explorers risked and lost their lives in a bid to reach the last unexplored territory on our planet or, to use the words of the Duke of the Abruzzi, “a bluish wall, which from afar appeared insurmountable. It was for us Terra Ultima Thule,” literally, “the last place on Earth”142. 137 Extract from the interview with Professor Elena Conde, op. cit. 138 Section 4 UNCLOS. 139 KOIVUROVA, 2008, p. 6. 140 KOIVUROVA, 2015, p. 6. 141 Maritime Delimitation in the Black sea (Romania v. Ukraine), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2009, p.61. 142 DI SAVOIA-AOSTA, Luigi Amedeo, Farther North than Nansen, Howard Wilford Bell, London, 1901, p.60.
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