INTRODUCTION

1. On 22 December 1997 St. Vincent and the Grenadines instituted arbitration proceedings against the Republic of Guinea (Annex 1) (“Arbitration Notification”). The proceedings were brought under Article 287(3) and Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“the 1982 Convention”) in relation to the dispute which had arisen by reason of the detention and arrest by Guinea on 28 October 1997 of the m/v “Saiga” (an oil tanker registered under the flag of St. Vincent and the Grenadines), its Master and crew. The Arbitration Notification also addressed subsequent actions by Guinea. Paragraph 24 of the Arbitration Notification requested the Arbitral Tribunal which was to be established to adjudge and declare:

“(1) the actions of Guinea (inter alia the attack on the m/v “Saiga” and its crew in the exclusive economic zone of Sierra Leone, its subsequent arrest, its detention and the removal of the cargo of gasoil, its filing of charges against St. Vincent and the Grenadines and its subsequently issuing a judgment against them) violate the right of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and vessels flying its flag to enjoy freedom of navigation and/or other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to the freedom of navigation, as set forth in Articles 56(2) and 58 and related provisions of the Convention;