Approaches to delimitation of maritime boundaries

The establishment of continental shelf zones and exclusive economic zones
(EEZs) considerably increased the number and length of the maritime
boundaries between coastal states. A 1983 survey identified some 376
international maritime boundaries between 137 coastal states around the
globe. In 1988, the US Department of State gave a figure of 412 demarcations
required. Eventually, additional boundaries arose due to the advent
of new states and the breaking-up of the Soviet Union. Yet another
generation of boundaries will result from climate change and accessibility
to resources in the Arctic waters.

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Registration of ships in shipping, maritime law and law of the sea

Registration means the entering of a matter in the public records. Registration
is generally—but not always—not only a precondition for, but also the test of, a
vessel’s nationality. This is the public law function of registration, as opposed to its
private law function.

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Earth’s Broken Shell

The division of the world into land and sea seems so
natural and timeless that it is hard to imagine it any other
way. Yet the very existence of continents and oceans is unique to
planet Earth, and their behaviour is even more remarkable.
Early in the 20th century, a German meteorologist named
Alfred Wegener noted the extraordinary way coastlines of
continents seemed to match across the oceans, like the separated
pieces of a vast jigsaw. He suggested that this was because the
continents were once joined together and the oceans between
them opened up as they split apart and drifted around the
world over many millions of years.

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LAW OF THE SEA (summary)

The law of the sea is a body of public international
law governing the geographic jurisdictions of coastal
States and the rights and duties among States in the
use and conservation of the ocean environment and its
natural resources. The law of the sea is commonly
associated with an international treaty, the Convention
on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), negotiated
under the auspices of the United Nations, which was
signed in 1982 by 117 States and entered into force in
At present 133 States have signed and ratified
UNCLOS;

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About suez Canal Invasion

The canal is operated and maintained by the state-owned Suez Canal Authority (SCA) of Egypt. The Suez Canal is a man-made waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea. It enables a more direct route for shipping between Europe and Asia, effectively allowing for passage from the North Atlantic to the Indian Ocean without having to circumnavigate the African continent. In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps, the former French consul to Cairo, secured an agreement with the Ottoman governor of Egypt to build a canal 100 miles across the Isthmus of Suez. The Suez Canal is a human-made waterway that cuts north-south across the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt. The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, making it the shortest maritime route to Asia from Europe. Since its completion in 1869, it has become one of the world’s most heavily used shipping lanes.

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What Makes a Continent a Continent?

According to a 2017 paper published in the Geological Society of America’s journal, GSA Today, “The ‘Glossary of Geology’ defines a continent as ‘one of the Earth’s major landmasses, including both dry land and continental shelves.’ It is generally agreed that continents have all the following attributes: (1) high elevation relative to regions floored by oceanic crust; (2) a broad range of siliceous igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks; (3) thicker crust and lower seismic velocity structure than oceanic crustal regions; and (4) well-defined limits around a large enough area to be considered a continent rather than a microcontinent or continental fragment… To our knowledge, the last point — how ‘major’ a piece of continental crust has to be to be called a continent — is almost never discussed.”

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Piracy Map of the world(2019-2020-2021-2022)

The Piracy & Armed Robbery Map below follows the definition of Piracy as laid down in Article 101 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and Armed Robbery as laid down in Resolution A.1025 (26) adopted on 2 December 2009 at the 26th Assembly Session of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). This maps shows all the piracy and armed robbery incidents reported to the IMB (International Maritime Bureau) Piracy Reporting Centre during 2019- 2022.

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What does the law of the sea do?

The law of the sea is a body of customs, treaties, and international agreements by which governments maintain order, productivity, and peaceful relations on the sea. Generally speaking, the law of the sea stipulates that maritime countries essentially control their territorial waters from the shore out to a distance of 12 miles (19.3 km), the “12-mile limit.” Within this zone, all laws of that country apply: the country can build, extract natural resources, and either encourage

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Development of the Studies on Maritime Delimitation

Since 1945, in particular, many studies have been written in the field of maritime delimitation. Most of them have focused on the case law. In fact, as is shown in the bibliography, there are many articles relating to international judgments in this field. Since it has been argued that the law of maritime delimitation has developed through international jurisprudence, it was only natural that writers turned to the analysis of case law in this field.

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Importance of Maritime Delimitation in International Law of the Sea

MARITIME SPACES IN international law of the sea are, in essence, defined in relation to the coastal State jurisdiction over each maritime space. Thus, coastal State jurisdiction is the primary criterion in characterising maritime spaces. The ambit of coastal State jurisdiction is in principle defined spatially, based on distance from the coast. According to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the territorial sea in which a coastal State exercises territorial sovereignty shall not exceed 12 nautical miles measured from the relevant baseline (Article 3). The contiguous zone over which a limited jurisdiction is exercised by the coastal State may not extend beyond 24 nautical miles from that line (Article 33). The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), where the coastal State may exercise sovereign rights regarding the exploration and exploitation of natural resources, shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles (Article 57). The same is in principle true for continental shelves of less than 200 nautical miles (Article 76(1)). It would seem safe to say that these rules have now become customary law. Hence, the definition of the spatial extent of coastal State jurisdiction is at the heart of the international law of the sea.

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what is the meaning of Flag State in law of the sea

Flag State jurisdiction is the prototype maritime jurisdiction. The flag, as the most potent symbol of State power, demonstrates urbi et orbi the existence of a direct link to the State concerned and, for generations, reflected the power of that State to the world. It is the strength of symbolism that creates the importance attached to the jurisdictional basis employed, that of nationality, and the genuine link between the two. The power connection, however, does not work both ways: as the ship remains a private actor, acts and omissions attached to its presence and operation in the marine environment are not automatically attributable to the State and thus do not necessarily trigger the mechanism of State responsibility; rather the State maintains a general droit de regard on what remains essentially a private enterprise. I will address each problem in turn.

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the meaning of Lakes and its variants

Surface water usually flows toward the sea, but sometimes it is held back by a depression or dam and forms a lake. Although most lakes are filled with freshwater, others have high salinity due to a high evaporation rate and accumulation of dissolved mineral salts.

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what is the meaning of Littorals in geography and law of the sea?

A littoral is a coastal zone between the low-tide line and the high-tide line. This landscape is constantly changing due to the continuous action of the sea, rivers, and wind, and it may take a variety of forms depending on the geological nature of the coast. also we can say the littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore.

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what is the meaning of the continents in geography and law

The seven continents that make up the world’s land mass are, from largest to smallest: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. Only 29 percent of the Earth’s surface is land. The percentage area of each continent is shown here.

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Denmark(Faroe Islands)–United Kingdom maritime boundary and Special Area

In May 1999 Denmark and the United Kingdom concluded an agreement (1999 Agreement) concerning their overlapping claims to fisheries zones and continental shelf in North Atlantic waters located between the Faroe Islands and Scotland. The 1999 Agreement designates continental shelf and fisheries zone boundaries in addition to a ‘Special Area’ of water column that remains subject to the overlapping jurisdictional claims both States.

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Colombia–Jamaica maritime boundary and the Joint Regime Area

In 1993 Colombia and Jamaica concluded a treaty (1993 Treaty) concerning their overlapping claims to a continental shelf and EEZ in the Caribbean Sea. Article 1 of the 1993 Treaty establishes a maritime boundary between the two States. Immediately to the west of the boundary, the 1993 Treaty also establishes a ‘Joint Regime Area’ in which, ‘pending the determination of the jurisdictional limits of each Party …, the Parties agree to establish … a zone of joint management, control, exploration and exploitation of living and non-living resources’. Article 3(1), sub-paragraphs (b) and (c) of the 1993 Treaty exclude two circular areas of 12 nautical miles radius from the Joint Regime Area. One circular area surrounds the cays of the Seranilla Bank and the other surrounds the cays of Bajo Nuevo. Both of these groups of features are claimed by Colombia – a claim that has been disputed on various occasions by Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua and the United States.

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Canada–United States overlapping claims in North Atlantic and surrounding Machias Seal Island and North Rock

In 1979 the Canada and the United States agreed to empower a Chamber of the ICJ to designate a single seabed and water-column boundary in the Gulf of Maine. The Chamber’s 1984 Judgment establishes a segmented boundary that commences at an offshore point mutually agreed by both States (Point A) and terminates at the point of intersection with the United States’ 200 nautical mile limit. McDorman notes that, prior to the conclusion of the 1979 agreement, Canadian and US negotiators had proposed several options concerning provisional joint management of overlapping claims in the Gulf of Maine. These proposals did not gain traction because delimitation issues proved difficult to set aside. In particular, the location of competing boundary claims influenced political views concerning the fair division of fisheries and potential hydrocarbon resources.

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The Development of the Case Law of Maritime Delimitation: From Equity to Normativity

In parallel with the codification process in the 1958 Geneva Conventions and the 1982 UNCLOS, the law of maritime delimitation was subject to a progressive development through litigation and arbitration. Both processes were at the same time independent and interrelated. The scope of this part is to provide a broad historical background of the evolution of the case law of maritime delimitation in order to better analyze in the following section the conditions, under which the Equidistance/Relevant Circumstances principle had emerged and developed.

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Codification of Maritime Delimitation

The first attempt at codification of the customary law of maritime delimitation started with the 1930 Hague Conference under the auspices of the League of Nations. The Hague Conference failed to reach its purpose and the following World War II period was not an appropriate period to deal with issues of maritime delimitation. In the aftermath of World War II, the creation of the United Nations Organization (UN) and the multiple individual claims of States over maritime spaces, such as the Truman Proclamation and the Santiago Declaration raised the need of re-starting the process of codification of the law of maritime delimitation. The adoption of the 1958 Geneva Conventions which followed was a successful initiative, at least to some extent.

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what is the meaning of Thalweg Line

The thalweg line is a concept of river law, defined under customary law either as “the mid-line of the main navigation channel” or as the deepest water line. The purpose of the thalweg line in matters of delimitation is to ensure an equal share of the navigable channel between two sovereign States taking into account the navigation interests. As compared to the median-line, the thalweg line as single rule was less used for maritime delimitation in State practice; one example is the Alaska Boundary Arbitration between Great Britain and the United States in 1903.

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what is the meaning of single maritime boundaries line (single line with dual purpose or all-purpose line)

In theory, the delimitation of the exclusive economic zone could follow a different line than the continental shelf. For practical reasons, however, states seem to have wanted to have their maritime zones delimited by a single maritime boundary for all purposes. The reason for this lies first of all in the shared overlap of natural resources between the two zones.

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Three-stage Approach of Maritime Delimitation in law of the sea (customary international law and court decisions)

Three-stage Approach of Maritime Delimitation that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) “has developed a settled jurisprudence relating to the interpretation of those provisions”, while quoting the Court’s description of the three-stage approach of first drawing a provisional delimitation line, then assessing that line in the light of the relevant circumstances of the case and finally applying the disproportionality test to determine whether the proposed boundary results in an equitable solution, which has been developed in the context of the delimitation of the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone. “international law thus calls for the application of an equidistance line, unless another line is required by special circumstances”. However, the assertion that the ICJ’s three-stage approach is settled jurisprudence in relation to article 15 is not borne out by a reading of the judgments. The quotation in paragraph 999 of the Award is from the judgment of the Court in Peru v. Chile. As the Award indicates, the Court in this connection makes reference to its earlier decisions in Black Sea and Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia). All three decisions discuss the three-stage approach in relation to the delimitation of the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf and there is nothing in these judgments suggesting that the Court considered that the three-stage approach applies equally to the delimitation of the territorial sea under article 15 of the Convention.

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The Truman Proclamation, 1945 (Proclamation 2667—Policy of the United States With Respect to the Natural Resources of the Subsoil and Sea Bed of the Continental Shelf)

U.S. President Harry S. Truman’s executive order on September 28, 1945, proclaiming that the resources on the continental shelf contiguous to the United States belonged to the United States. This was a radical departure from the existing approach, under which the two basic principles of the law of the sea had been a narrow strip of coastal waters under the exclusive sovereignty of the coastal state and an unregulated area beyond that known as the high seas. The speed at which Truman’s continental shelf concept was recognized through emulation or acquiescence led Sir Hersch Lauterpacht to declare in 1950 that it represented virtually “instant custom.”

View More The Truman Proclamation, 1945 (Proclamation 2667—Policy of the United States With Respect to the Natural Resources of the Subsoil and Sea Bed of the Continental Shelf)

what is the meaning of Special Circumstances and Relevant Circumstances in delimitation process at law of the sea

Special circumstances are those circumstances which might modify the results produced by an unqualified application of the equidistance principles. Small islands and maritime features are arguably the archetypical special circumstances as much in the delimitation of the territorial sea as in the delimitation of the continental shelf/EEZ. The Court has recognized in numerous cases, including the North Sea Continental Shelf, Tunisia/Libya, Libya/Malta and Qatar v. Bahrain cases that the equitableness of an equidistance line depends on whether the precaution is taken of eliminating the disproportionate effect of certain islets, rocks and minor coastal projections.

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equitable result in maritime delimitation and most acceptable law for delimitation process

The notion of equity is at the heart of the delimitation of the CS(continental shelf) and entered into the delimitation process with the 1945 proclamation of US President Truman, concerning the delimitation of the CS between the Unites States and adjacent States. The Truman proclamation inspired the Court during the 1969 North Sea case, when the Court stated that “delimitation is to be effected by agreement in accordance with equitable principles, and taking into account all the relevant circumstances.” This idea became doctrine and was reiterated and confirmed by the ICJ and arbitral tribunals in subsequent cases. Articles 74 and 83 of the 1982 LOS Convention concerning the delimitation of the EEZ and the CS provides for effecting the delimitation by agreement, in accordance with international law and in order to achieve an equitable result.

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Delimitation of the Maritime Boundaries between the adjacent States

Delimitation of the Maritime Boundaries between the adjacent Boundaries between the adjacent States , a PDF+PPT lecture by Nugzar Dundua, United Nations United Nations, The…

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Overlapping claims to territorial sea in law of the sea and LOSC

Delimitation of the territorial sea between States with opposite or adjacent coasts
Where the coasts of two States are opposite or adjacent to each other, neither of the two States is entitled, failing agreement between them to the contrary, to extend its territorial sea beyond the median line every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial seas of each of the two States is measured. The above provision does not apply, however, where it is necessary by reason of historic title or other special circumstances to delimit the territorial seas of the two States in a way which is at variance therewith.
This provision in a near-verbatim reproduction of the equivalent provision of the 1958 Territorial Sea Convention. It reflects a compromise reached at UNCLOS I – and again at UNCLOS III – between two general proposed methods of delimitation.

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Overlapping claims to internal waters in law of the sea and LOSC

Several adjacent coastal States have designated straight territorial sea baselines in a manner that generates overlapping claims to internal waters. The LOSC contains only limited references to internal waters, none of which concern delimitation or OCA management. The absence of detailed provisions in this context flows from the characterization of internal waters under customary law: Such waters appertain to the land territory of a coastal State and are subject, with limited exception, to full territorial sovereignty. The absence in the law of the sea of detailed rules concerning internal waters is a deliberate deference to the territorial rights of coastal States.

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Mare Liberum

Mare Liberum (or The Freedom of the Seas) is a book in Latin on international law written by the Dutch jurist and philosopher Hugo Grotius, first published in 1609. In The Free Sea, Grotius formulated the new principle that the sea was international territory and all nations were free to use it for seafaring trade. The disputation was directed towards the Portuguese Mare clausum policy and their claim of monopoly on the East Indian Trade. Grotius wrote the treatise while being a counsel to the Dutch East India Company over the seizing of the Santa Catarina Portuguese carrack issue. The work was assigned to Grotius by the Zeeland Chamber of the Dutch East India Company in 1608.

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United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and its implementing agreements in sustainable development

On 3 February 2014, on the margins of the eighth session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, the Division for Ocean Affairs…

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The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, A HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

By the mid-1950s, it had become increasingly clear that existing international principles governing ocean
affairs were no longer capable of effectively guiding conduct on and use of the seas. The oceans had long been
subject to the freedom-of-the-sea doctrine — a seventeenth century principle that limited national rights and
jurisdiction over the oceans to a narrow belt of sea surrounding a nation’s coastline. The remainder of the seas
was proclaimed to be free to all and belonging to none.
But technological innovations, coupled with a global population explosion, had drastically changed man’s
relationship to the oceans. Larger and more advanced fishing fleets were endangering the sustainability of fish
stocks, the marine environment was increasingly threatened by pollution caused by industrial and other human
activity, and tensions between States over conflicting claims to the oceans and its vast resources were intensifying.
In this atmosphere, the United Nations convened the first of three conferences on the Law of the Sea in
Geneva in 1958. The conference produced four conventions, dealing respectively with the territorial sea and
the contiguous zone, the high seas, fishing and conservation of the living resources of the high seas, and the
continental shelf.
Two years later, the United Nations convened the Second Conference on the Law of the Sea, which, in spite
of intensive efforts, failed to produce an agreement on the breadth of the territorial sea and on fishing zones.
While the first two Conferences on the Law of the Sea had advanced a number of issues concerning international ocean affairs, the majority still remained unsolved. The creation of a comprehensive international
treaty was to become the legacy of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea.
A speech to the United Nations General Assembly by Malta’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Arvid
Pardo, on 1 November 1967, has often been credited with setting in motion a process that spanned 15 years and
culminated with the adoption of the Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982. In his speech, Ambassador
Pardo urged the international community to take immediate action to prevent the breakdown of law and order
on the oceans, a disaster that many feared loomed on the horizon. He called for “an effective international
regime over the seabed and the ocean floor beyond a clearly defined national jurisdiction”.
Ambassador Pardo’s call to action came at the right time. In the next five years, the international community took several major steps that were crucial in setting the stage for a comprehensive treaty. In 1968, the
General Assembly established a Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Seabed and the Ocean Floor beyond the
Limits of National Jurisdiction, which began work on a statement of legal principles to govern the uses of the
seabed and its resources. In 1970, the Assembly unanimously adopted the Committee’s Declaration of
Principles, which declared the seabed and ocean floor beyond the limits of national jurisdiction to be the common heritage of mankind. The same year, the Assembly decided to convene the Third Conference on the Law
of the Sea to create a single comprehensive international treaty that would govern all ocean affairs.

Third Conference on the Law of the Sea
The Third Conference on the Law of the Sea opened in 1973 with a brief organizational session, followed in 1974
by a second session held in Caracas, Venezuela. In Caracas, delegates announced that they would approach the
new treaty as a “package deal”, to be accepted as a whole in all its parts without reservation on any aspect. This
decision proved to be instrumental to the successful conclusion of the treaty.
A first draft was submitted to delegates in 1975. Over the next seven years, the text underwent several
major revisions. But on 30 April 1982, an agreement had been reached and the final text of the new convention
was put to a vote. The vote, which took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York, marked the end of over a
decade of intense and often strenuous negotiations, involving the participation of more than 160 countries from all
regions of the world and all legal and political systems.
The Convention was adopted with 130 States voting in favour, 4 against and 17 abstaining. Later that same year,
on 10 December, the Convention was opened for signature at Montego Bay, Jamaica, and received a record number of
signatures — 119 — on the first day.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea entered into force on 16 November 1994, one year after it
had reached the 60 ratifications necessary. Today the Convention is fast approaching universal participation, with 138
States, including the European Union, having become parties.
The Convention is supplemented by two agreements dealing respectively with Seabed Mining and Straddling and
Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.

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Crimes at Sea, PIRACY AND SMUGGLING ON THE RISE

On the world’s oceans, piracy and armed robbery are on the rise. So is smuggling — especially of migrants
and drugs. Among the most widespread and serious at sea, these crimes are often masterminded by organized
criminals who take full advantage of weaknesses in law enforcement on the oceans. In some areas, they have
succeeded in undermining marine transport.
Maritime security and the safety of life at sea are also threatened by other criminal activities, such as terrorism, hijackings, the smuggling of arms and hazardous wastes, illegal fishing and dumping, the illegal discharge
of pollutants, and other violations of environmental laws.

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Regime of the islands in law of the sea

Article 121 of the 1982 Convention deals with the regime of islands.
An island is a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide.
Except as provided for in paragraph 3, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf of an island are determined in accordance with the provisions of this Convention applicable to other land territory.
Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.

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difference between islands and rocks in law of the sea

The definition and treatment of islands in maritime boundary delimitation are complex and important. This is because the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which came into effect in 1994, provides that islands, along with mainland coasts, may generate a full suite of maritime zones – including a 200 nm exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf claim as well as a 12 nm territorial sea. Thus, if no maritime neighbours were within 400 nm of the feature, an island has the potential to generate 125,664 sq. nm [431,014 km2] of territorial sea, EEZ and continental shelf rights. There is also the consideration that oceans remain an important source of living resources, with fisheries representing a major industry for many coastal states.

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The Right to Seek Asylum in law of the sea

The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, defines a refugee as a person who:“owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his [or her] nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself [or herself ] of the protection of that country”. (Article 1A(2)) It further prohibits that refugees or asylum-seekers “… be expelled or returned in any way “to the frontiers of territories where his [or her] life or freedom would be threatened on account of his [or her] race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” (Article 33 (1)). The scope of the principle of non-refoulement has a larger scope in the field of Human Rights Law. Indeed, it protects every person and not only the refugees and asylum seeker and the scope of its protection is larger. Human Rights prohibits every expulsion or refoulement to a country where the person is at risk of suffering torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, sometimes the execution of the death penalty and sometimes a grave denial of justice.

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The obligation to rescue people in distress at sea

Rescue of people in distress at sea, regardless of their nationality or status, is an unconditional obligation for all ships in vicinity and coastal state authorities. The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS Convention) provides that:
“ Every State shall require the master of a ship flying its flag, in so far as he can do so without serious danger to the ship, the crew or the passengers: (a) to render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being lost; (b) to proceed with all possible speed to the rescue of persons in distress, if informed of their need of assistance, in so far as such action may reasonably be expected of him.” (Art. 98 (1))

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Migrants’ rights at sea

The main rights and obligations concerning migrants attempting to cross the sea clandestinely are framed by the following legal norms: The right to leave any country, including his own and its limits
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that:
“Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country” (Article 13. (2)). Article 5 of the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination provides that state parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of [c, ii)] the right to leave any country, including one’s own, and to return to one’s country.”

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RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES IN MARITIME ZONES

Coastal states can claim five key maritime zones. Proceeding seawards from the coast they are internal waters, territorial seas, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone (or, in some cases, an exclusive fishing zone) and the continental shelf. Archipelagic states may also claim archipelagic waters within their archipelagic baselines. Beyond these national zones of jurisdiction lie the international maritime zones of the high seas and the Area.
The rights of the coastal state and aliens vary in these maritime zones, and do so both spatially and functionally. Thus, the coastal state has more rights closer to shore, for example in internal waters and the territorial sea. Aliens retain considerable rights within a coastal state’s claimed maritime zones concerned with communication issues such as navigation, overflight and the laying of submarine cables and pipelines. The coastal state, in contrast, boasts significant resource related rights, particularly concerning fishing and mineral extraction from the seabed.

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Exclusive Fishery Zones meaning and which countries have it?

where no EEZ claim has been made, several states instead claim an exclusive fishery zone. A significant proportion of these states border the Mediterranean Sea which has witnessed a dearth of EEZ claims.
The Mediterranean littoral states are not opposed to the EEZ concept in principle, but have been dissuaded from making EEZ claims because of ‘a twofold economico-geographic reason’. The geographical part of this reason relates to the fact that the physical dimensions of the Mediterranean preclude any coastal state from claiming an EEZ out to 200 nm from its baselines. The economic dimension refers to the the relatively unproductive nature of the Mediterranean from a fisheries perspective. Fishery zones have also been claimed by several states on behalf of their dependent territories.

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what is the deference between national and international maritime zones?

The rights coastal states have in certain maritime zones, notably internal waters, the territorial sea and contiguous zone, affords them security in the face of threats such as smuggling, illegal immigration, other forms of cross-border crime and, ultimately, from the threat of terrorism and the use of military force. The national maritime zones outlined in the UN Convention also offer profound benefits to coastal states in respect of resources, both living resources such as fisheries and non-living resources such as oil and gas. Furthermore, the rights and responsibilities relating to national maritime zones as laid down in the 1982 Convention provide coastal states with opportunities and obligations in the sphere of ocean management. This includes, but is not limited to, navigation, fisheries protection, conservation of living resources, pollution control, search and rescue and marine scientific research.

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