Without equal access to ocean data, science and knowledge, developing countries remain excluded from shaping the governance of their own marine resources
This piece is part of the series 'Governing the Oceans: Rethinking Access and Equity'
Not all oceans are equally well-known. The Argo float network — the backbone of global ocean observation — draws contributions from 30 countries. Yet, individual shares range from a single float to the United States alone accounting for roughly half the global array. Developing countries remain significantly underrepresented in Argo float deployments, despite these systems constituting the backbone of global ocean observation. According to the International Seabed Authority, deep-sea research capabilities remain concentrated in a handful of advanced economies. Without the expertise and technology to generate and interpret ocean data, coastal states in developing countries remain marginal players in economic activities and multilateral decision-making alike—a consequence that is not incidental but structural. Data without the scientific capacity to analyse it is inert; science without systemic support is inaccessible; and knowledge without equitable governance frameworks remains a privilege for the few.
Data without the scientific capacity to analyse it is inert; science without systemic support is inaccessible; and knowledge without equitable governance frameworks remains a privilege for the few.
The knowledge of currents and coastlines, fish stocks, and sea-level trajectories required for port planning, climate adaptation, and maritime security is beyond the production capacity of the developing coastal states, leaving critical decisions about their own coastal waters to be shaped by others. This deficit is not a technical problem but a political consequence that is neither inevitable nor acceptable. It requires a political response commensurate with the challenge, grounded in the understanding that equitable access to ocean knowledge is a matter of governance architecture.
Historically, ocean science has been dominated by institutions concentrated in the Global North, with research goals that have not always taken into account the vulnerabilities of the Global South. Despite governing more than 40 percent of the world’s Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), countries in the Global South continue to face limited access to blue finance, and donor-driven research agendas continue to displace local interests and deny many coastal states the data infrastructure needed to manage their own marine resources.
lthough a mere 26.1 percent of the ocean floor has been mapped, the states most dependent on the ocean are the least empowered to influence the science that governs it.
The problem is intensified by chronic underinvestment in Ocean Science, with less than 1.7 percent of global natural science funding, the majority of which is concentrated in high-income countries. Only five countries, all in the Global North, have complete access to ocean research infrastructure; none of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), including those in the Caribbean, possesses a deep-sea research vessel. Although a mere 26.1 percent of the ocean floor has been mapped, the states most dependent on the ocean are the least empowered to influence the science that governs it. The UN Ocean Decade (2021–2030) was designed to address this imbalance through capacity-building, inclusive research agendas, and open data sharing. However, structural gaps persist. Only 45 out of 126 countries involved in marine spatial planning have formally approved plans. With four more years to go, the second half of the UN Ocean Decade must move from generating knowledge to translating it into action, embedding its scientific outputs into national ocean policies, financial mechanisms, and technology-transfer frameworks that put developing nations at the centre of ocean governance rather than on its periphery. Realising this objective requires deliberate investment to enable data-poor states to participate substantively in contemporary ocean governance.
The capacity deficit in the Global South stems from the structural inequalities created by historical colonialism, exacerbated by prohibitive infrastructure costs and parachute science. This absence of sovereign ocean science capacity enables what the Blue Equity Assessment Framework (2024) refers to as the ‘blue grab’—the seizure of marine resources and blue capital by external interests—as blue economy opportunities expand. Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing alone costs US$ 23 billion annually, with 40 percent of West African catches unreported. The burden falls disproportionately on SIDS and coastal states in South Asia and Africa, which have contributed the least to ocean degradation but bear the brunt of its effects, including increased vulnerability to climate change, diminished livelihoods, and jeopardised food security. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Fifth UN Ocean Forum (2025) identified the financing gap: SDG 14 requires US$ 175 billion annually, yet only US$ 30 billion has been disbursed since 2010. This is, at its core, a question of blue justice. Meeting it requires a conscious shift in ocean governance towards mechanisms that treat equity as a legal entitlement, one that international law already recognises but has not fully delivered.
India's capabilities, including the Deep Ocean Mission, position it as a credible and motivated partner for developing countries looking to strengthen their ocean governance capacity. India is also well placed to champion a more inclusive ocean knowledge agenda. The SAGAR doctrine (2015) established ocean cooperation as one of the pillars of Indian Ocean engagement, and the expanded MAHASAGAR vision (2025) incorporates capacity-building and blue economy cooperation for the Global South. Within this ecosystem, the Indian Maritime University (IMU), through its Centre of Policy Research in Maritime Systems (C-PRiMES), can serve as a key institutional bridge, translating India’s maritime policy experience into transferable capacity across areas such as hydrography, maritime law, AI-enabled shipping, digital twinning, and port digitisation.
The knowledge divide will not close through infrastructure alone; it requires people. One possible response is the Indian Ocean Knowledge Fellowship (IOKF), a global scholarship and research programme anchored in India that draws on the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU) model of partnership-conditional research funding and the Colombo Plan's human-centric approach to knowledge transfer to position India as a co-producer of ocean knowledge with the Global South. Each fellowship would require a tripartite partnership between the fellow's home institution, IMU, and a third Global South partner, preventing parachute science, ensuring co-designed research agendas, and building durable networks across the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), the Pacific, and the South Atlantic. Dedicated fellowships in ocean data and maritime science would prioritise researchers from SIDS and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)—those most under-represented in global ocean science.
The knowledge divide will not close through infrastructure alone; it requires people.
A joint coordination committee comprising IMU, partnering institutions, and regional bodies would oversee fellowship implementation, ensure alignment with recipient nations' research priorities, and progressively build the collective scientific infrastructure necessary for equitable ocean governance.
Equitable ocean governance calls for universal access to ocean data, science, and knowledge. Shared ocean data repositories, inclusive participation in the UN Regular Process and the BBNJ Conference of the Parties, and the meaningful integration of traditional knowledge are prerequisites for a blue economy that works for all. There is a rare convergence of opportunity in the political momentum generated by Nice, the BBNJ Agreement, and the UN Ocean Decade. The IOKF would transform that momentum into something more lasting: a new generation of ocean researchers, practitioners, and knowledge networks.
Malini Shankar is the Vice Chancellor at the Indian Maritime University.
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An IAS officer of 1984 batch, Maharashtra cadre, Dr. Malini V Shankar is currently the Vice Chancellor of the Indian Maritime University. Her earlier assignments ...
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