Except for the baselines established between Pointe de Sangomar and
the Gambian border, which may arguably be valid due to the presence
of fringing islands near lie des Oiseaux, all of the remaining sections of the Senegalese straight baseline system from Pointe Rouge to Pointe de Sangomar enclose indentations which fail to meet the semi-circle test
of Article 7 (LOSC Article 10) (see Fig. 5.22). Although technically
“mere” curvatures, the spatial effect of enclosing these indentations is
considerable.
In his analysis of the Senegalese system, the US Geographer states
that “[t]he system does not extend significantly the territorial
sea …. ” It is not the increase in territorial sea that is the most
worrisome. Senegal gains large areas of continental shelf and exclusive
economic zone from these claims because the lengths of the segments
in this area (15.3, 9.8, 15.7, 7.1 and 22.0 n.m. respectively) are
relatively long. Senegal also gains exclusive control over hundreds
of additional square miles of internal waters which do not justify
internalization.
