Hughes Hubbard Representing Togo in Maritime Boundary Dispute as it Moves to ITLOS Special Chamber

Dispute with Ghana arises from overlapping maritime claims in the Gulf of Guinea.

Highlights

Firm is representing Togo in a dispute with Ghana concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the two countries in the Gulf of Guinea.
Proceedings were transferred to a Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea following an agreement between the parties.
Dispute concerns overlapping maritime claims relating to the Keta Basin offshore area, which is believed to contain valuable oil and gas reserves.

Hughes Hubbard is representing the Republic of Togo in a maritime boundary dispute with Ghana that has been submitted to a Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).

The dispute concerns overlapping maritime claims in the Gulf of Guinea encompassing part of the Keta Basin offshore area, which is believed to contain valuable oil and gas reserves.

Ghana initiated proceedings under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea after eight years of negotiations between the two countries failed to produce an agreed maritime boundary.

In June 2026, Ghana and Togo agreed to transfer the proceedings to an ITLOS Special Chamber. The tribunal subsequently constituted a seven-member chamber chaired by ITLOS president Tomas Heidar to hear the dispute.

The special chamber also includes judges Neeru Chadha, Ida Caracciolo, Zha Hyoung Rhee and Konrad Jan Marciniak as well as judges ad hoc Dapo Akande, nominated by Ghana, and Makane Moïse Mbengue, nominated by Togo.

The Hughes Hubbard team representing Togo includes Sena Agbayissah, Alexander Marcopoulos, and Enguerrand de la Morsangliere.