Economic Side

Economic Value

In December 1970, the UN Assembly adopted a resolution that the deep-sea floor resources that exist outside the territories of coastal states. The organizations and procedures were determined in 1973 to enact the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, containing 320 provisions and nine supplementary agreements, in April 1982.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates provisions concerning closed sea and adjacent zone, international straits, island nations, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf, high seas, islands, continental nations, international deep-sea floor, protection of maritime environments, scientific investigation of maritime resources, development and transfer of maritime technologies, and arbitration of related disputes.

Compared to the traditional maritime systems, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea specifies six critical issues concerning innocent passage, transit passage, archipelago waters, the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), continental shelf, and deep-sea floor.

01

The Convention limits the closed sea to 12 nautical miles
and accepts foreign vossels' right of innocent passage in the closed sea.

The closed sea is the area where the nearest coastal state practices exclusive jurisdiction and admits foreign vessels' right of innocent passage. Coastal states generally practices exclusive jurisdiction with rights to practice police rights and tariffs, but the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea admits the right of innocent passage. With the right of innocent passage, foreign vessels can pass the closed sea unless they threaten coastal states?peace and security.
In case of submarines, they must come up to the surface and display the national flag in order to pass the closed sea.

02

The Convention introduces the new concept of transit passage
for international sailors that pass straits.

As the closed sea has greatly expanded in width, international sailors’ freedom to sail through international straits that are up to 24 nautical miles. Therefore, the Convention created the concept of transit passage to guarantee third state vessels’ travel through international straits. Transit passage guarantees more freedom of sailors than the right of innocent passage in the closed sea. Therefore, coastal states with straits cannot interfere with transit passage under any causes. Unlike the right of innocent passage in the closed sea, transit passage authorizes airplanes to pass through. Submarines can also pass without emerging onto the surface.

03

The Convention admits archipelago waters. This guarantees military
security and economic benefit of states comprising of several islands.

In case of Philippines and Indonesia that are made up of several islands in the middle of the seas, the outermost islands are connected in straight lines to determine the range of the closed sea, rather than marking the closed sea around each island. However, archipelago waters have limits as well.

Foreign vessels are given transit cards to pass archipelago waters as they would pass international straits with transit passage, but archipelago waters are not admitted for islands that are not independent states as themselves or for states that are only partially made up of islands.

04

The Convention legally admits the 200-nautical-mile
exclusive economic zone(EEZ).

The EEZ was first declared by certain South American nations after the Truman Declaration of 1945 to dominate the maritime resources of their surrounding waters. It is considered the symbol of coastal states’ expansion of exclusive jurisdiction.

This system was adopted as the arbitration between costal states that insisted expansion of the closed sea up to 200 nautical miles and advanced countries that opposed. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea admits coastal states’ exclusive rights to underwater resources, underground resources, development/preservation of resources, and prevention of contamination up to 200 nautical miles from the start of the closed sea. However, third state vessels (both ships and aircrafts) have the freedom to pass the EEZ as they would the high sea.

05

the Convention broadens the definition of continental shelf outside
the limited geological concept.

In the past, continental shelf was defined up to 200m underwater or any depth that allows development of underwater resources based on its geological concept. However, the Convention defines continental shelf as the outer rim of continental margin, the natural extension of continental territories, or 200 nautical miles from the start of the closed sea should the continental margin not reach 200 nautical miles.

06

The Treaty is also characterized by its regulation on deep-sea floor.

The Convention applied the concept of world heritage to deep-sea floor and mineral resources outside the exclusive jurisdiction of coastal states. Therefore, the International Sea-bed Authority was established to steer exploration and development of deep-sea floor. However, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea does not solve all maritime issues just because it was universally supported. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea fails to clarify maritime issues that are widely controversial in the world. Also, it excludes certain types of disputes from enforcement jurisdiction and might lead to various international conflicts.