International waters
The title of this article is ambiguous. For other meanings, see High Seas (disambiguation).
According to Article 86 of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the high seas include all parts of the seas that do not belong to an exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the territorial sea, the internal waters of a state or the archipelagic waters of an archipelagic state. They are thus free from the exercise of state sovereignty.
Articles 86 to 120 of the 1982 Convention constitute Part VII, High Seas.
Article 87 reads:
Freedom of the High Seas
(1. The high seas shall be open to all States, whether coastal or landlocked. The freedom of the high seas shall be exercised in accordance with the terms of this Convention and the other rules of international law. It shall include, inter alia, for coastal and landlocked States
(a) freedom of navigation,
(b) freedom of overflight,
(c) the freedom, subject to Part VI, to lay submarine cables and pipelines,
(d) the freedom, subject to Part VI, to construct artificial islands and other installations permitted under international law,
(e) the freedom to fish under the conditions laid down in Section 2,
(f) freedom of scientific research, subject to Parts VI and XIII.
(2. These freedoms shall be exercised by each State with due regard to the interests of other States in the exercise of the freedom of the high seas and to the rights which this Convention provides with respect to activities in the Area.
Article 94 regulates the sovereign rights of States over ships on the high seas. The flag State principle applies. Paragraph 1 reads:
Each State shall exercise effectively its jurisdiction and control in administrative, technical and social matters over vessels flying its flag.
By agreeing on the possibility of generating exclusive economic zones of up to 200 nautical miles, by defining archipelagic waters and by extending territorial waters from three to twelve nautical miles, the Law of the Sea Convention has strengthened the rights of coastal states and, in return, considerably restricted the "freedom of the seas".
High seas in dark blue
Maritime zones under the Convention on the Law of the Sea
See also
- Baseline (Law of the Sea)
- International waters
