International institutions like the ISA and dispute settlement tribunals cannot be created through customary international law

Also, international institutions cannot be created by custom. Only through agreements can this occur. The institutions incorporated in the Convention are essen- tial to its proper functioning-the Seabed Authority, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, the Law of the Sea Tribunal and the other dispute settlement mechanisms provided for in Part XV and Annexes V to VIII of the Convention. The marine scientific research articles (Part XIII) of the Convention also provide for im- plied consent to research requests in foreign waters if there is no reply within fixed time limits, a right not accorded to the United States as a non-party.