• The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities.
• 167 countries and the European Union are parties to the Convention.
• UNCLOS resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), which took place between 1973 and 1982, and was adopted and signed in 1982.
• It replaced the four Geneva Conventions of April 1958.
• UNCLOS created three new institutions on the international scene:
  • the International Tribunal for Laws of the Sea, 
  • the International Seabed Authority, and 
  • the Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf.
• The Convention divides marine areas into five main zones:
  • Internal Waters, 
  • Territorial Sea, 
  • Contiguous Zone, 
  • Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and 
  • the High Seas.
• UNCLOS provides a framework for state jurisdiction in maritime spaces and different legal status to different maritime zones.
• It provides guidance for states’ rights and responsibilities in the five concentric zones.
• UNCLOS is the only international convention that stipulates a framework for offshore governance by coastal states and those navigating the oceans.

Maritime Zones

• Baseline:
  • It is the low-water line along the coast as officially recognized by the coastal state.
• Internal Waters:
  • Waters on the landward side of the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
  • Each coastal state has full sovereignty over its internal waters, similar to its land territory.
  • Examples include bays, ports, inlets, rivers, and lakes connected to the sea.
  • No right of innocent passage through internal waters.
• Territorial Sea:
  • Extends seaward up to 12 nautical miles (nm) from its baselines.
  • Coastal states have sovereignty and jurisdiction over the territorial sea, including seabed, subsoil, and airspace.
  • Coastal states’ rights are limited by innocent passage through the territorial sea.
• Contiguous Zone:
  • Extends seaward up to 24 nm from its baselines.
  • An intermediary zone between the territorial sea and the high seas.
  • Coastal state has the right to prevent and punish infringement of laws within its territory and territorial sea.
  • Provides jurisdiction to a state on the ocean’s surface and floor, but not in the air or space.
• Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ):
  • Each coastal state may claim an EEZ beyond and adjacent to its territorial sea, extending seaward up to 200 nm from its baselines.
  • Coastal state has sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing natural resources of the seabed and subsoil.
  • Allows for energy production from water, currents, and wind.
  • Does not give coastal states the right to prohibit or limit freedom of navigation or overflight, subject to limited exceptions.
• High Seas:
  • Ocean surface and water column beyond the EEZ, considered the “common heritage of all mankind” and beyond national jurisdiction.
  • States can conduct peaceful activities in these areas, such as transit, marine science, and undersea exploration.