Suriya narayanan sundararajan
phd candidate
Research Area
- Public International Law
- Law of the Sea
- Marine Technology Governance
Region
- Global
- South West Indian Ocean
Current Topic
- Regime and Institutional Interaction
- Liability and Ocean Observation Technologies
- Marine Environment
publications
Examining the Effects of Sea Level Rise
Sundararajan, S. N., & Jiménez García-Carriazo, Á (2024). Transfiguring Islands to Rocks: Examining the Effects of Sea Level Rise in Light of Article 121 of UNCLOS. Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs, 316–341.
Mitigating COVID-19: The Indian Navy in the Vanguard
Narayanan, S. (2020). Mitigating COVID-19: The Indian Navy in the Vanguard — As Always. National Maritime Foundation.
Law as an instrument of maritime power
Narayanan, S. (2019). Law as an instrument of maritime power. In, Dilli Series Sea Power Seminar (6th ed., pp. 158–165) Indian Naval Academy.
Rebel Law
Narayanan, S. (2019). Rebel Law: Insurgents, Courts and Justice in Modern Conflict by Frank Ledwidge. Journal of Defence Studies, 13(2), 123–125. Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
Highlight of events & activities
Monaco Explorations Science to Policy Workshop Indian Ocean Expedition
Recommendations for Improving the Governance and Management in the South-West Indian Ocean
Rapporteur and Presenter
UNDOALOS Regional Workshop
The Law of the Sea and Ocean Governance for the Wider Indian Ocean Region
Observer
National Maritime Foundation - Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Public International Maritime Law Seminar
Marine Scientific Research in the Exclusive Economic Zone: Legal Position of Claims made by States under UNCLOS 1982
Presenter
48th Conference on Oceans Law and Policy
Reading the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change through the Lens of Small Island Developing States in the Indian Ocean
Presenter
University Maritime Platform Conference 2025
Ocean Observation Technologies to Enhance Environment Impact Assessment processes in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction
Presenter
47th Conference on Oceans Law and Policy: Ocean Governance in the South Pacific and Latin America
Emerging Technologies and Digital Connectivity
Rapporteur
BUGWRIGHT2 Forum
Overcoming Regulatory Barriers for Service Robotics in an Ocean Industry
Rapporteur
National Maritime Foundation - Stockton Center for International Law Workshop
The Loop and Liability of Unmanned Maritime Systems
Presenter
Dialogue on Maritime Safety and Security and Environmental Protection
Security Architecture in the Indian Ocean Region
Presenter
National Maritime Foundation and Commonwealth Security Group Dialogue
UNCLOS and the Rules Based Order
Presenter
Suriya Narayanan Sundararajan, a multicultural Indian national, joined the World Maritime University (WMU)-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute (GOI) in 2024 and is currently from 2025 a PhD Candidate in Maritime Affairs, under The Nippon Foundation WMU-GOI Future Ocean Programme. His doctoral research is entitled “Civil Liability and Marine Technologies: A Case Study of the Saya de Malha Bank Through the Prism of the BBNJ Agreement”.
He also supports the Institute with research and project management efforts for the Ocean Research Agenda. He assists the Programme PI’s with research matters as well as supports the Institute’s outreach, communications and capacity building activities in the realm of the Ocean Research Agenda. Suriya, through his role at WMU-GOI during 2024, has worked on various multi-stakeholder research endeavours as a Project and Research Fellow supporting projects such as the European Union Horizon2020 Programme “BUGWRIGHT2: Autonomous Robotic Inspection and Maintenance on Ship Hulls”, and METAVASEA, a project that covers people-centric transition in the era of decarbonization steered by HELMEPA.
He is an alumnus of the IMO International Maritime Law Institute, the Alliance University, and the Yeosu Academy of the Law of the Sea, and has an LLM, LLB and BA in Political Science. He is also a member of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) Alumni Network.
Prior to joining WMU, he worked at the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) where he served as one of its principal researchers in the field of law of the sea and public international law. He has worked with the Top Admirals of the Indian Navy to contribute to India’s National Maritime Policy in association with NITI Aayog and has conducted training for the Indian Foreign Service Officer Trainees and Bhutanese Diplomats. He is privileged to have been commended by the Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy in 2019 for his commitment and professional competence of a very high order. His research focuses on law of the sea, ocean technologies, security, and environmental issues in ocean governance, with publications in NMF’s Maritime Perspectives and at the Indian Naval Academy.