Convention on the Territorial Sea & the Contiguous Zone

 

PART I

TERRITORIAL SEA
SECTION I. GENERAL

Article 1

1. The sovereignty of a State extends, beyond its land territory and its
internal waters, to a belt of sea adjacent to its coast, described as the
territorial sea.

2. This sovereignty is exercised subject to the provisions of these
articles and to other rules of international law.

Article 2

The sovereignty of a coastal State extends to the air space over the
territorial sea as well as to its bed and subsoil.

SECTION II. LIMITS OF THE TERRITORIAL SEA

Article 3

Except where otherwise provided in these articles, the normal baseline for
measuring the breadth of the territorial sea is the low-water line along
the coast as marked on large-scale charts officially recognized by the
coastal State.

Article 4

1. In localities where the coast line is deeply indented and cut into, or
if there is a fringe of islands along the coast in its immediate vicinity,
the method of straight baselines joining appropriate points may be employed
in drawing the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is
measured.

2. The drawing of such baselines must not depart to any appreciable extent
from the general direction of the coast, and the sea areas lying within the
lines must be sufficiently closely linked to the land domain to be subject
to the regime of internal waters.

3. Baselines shall not be drawn to and from low-tide elevations, unless
lighthouses or similar installations which are permanently above sea level
have been built on them.

4. Where the method of straight baselines is applicable under the
provisions of paragraph 1, account may be taken, in determining particular
baselines, of economic interests peculiar to the region concerned, the
reality and the importance of which are clearly evidenced by a long usage.

5. The system of straight baselines may not be applied by a State in such a
manner as to cut off from the High Seas the territorial sea of another
State.

6. The coastal State must clearly indicate straight baselines on charts, to
which due publicity must be given.

Article 5

1. Waters on the landward side of the baseline of the territorial sea form
part of the internal waters of the State.

2. Where the establishment of a straight baseline in accordance with
article 4 has the effect of enclosing as internal waters areas which
previously had been considered as part of the territorial sea or of the
High Seas , a right of innocent passage, as provided in articles 14 to 23,
shall exist in those waters.

Article 6

The outer limit of the territorial sea is the line every point of which is
at a distance from the nearest point of the baseline equal to the breadth
of the territorial sea.

Article 7

1. This article relates only to bays the coasts of which belong to a single
State.

2. For the purposes of these articles, a bay is a well-marked indentation
whose penetration is in such proportion to the width of its mouth as to
contain landlocked waters and constitute more than a mere curvature of the
coast. An indentation shall not, however, be regarded as a bay unless its
area is as large as, or larger than, that of the semi-circle whose diameter
is a line drawn across the mouth of that indentation.

3. For the purpose of measurement, the area of an indentation is that lying
between the low-water mark around the shore of the indentation and a line
joining the low-water marks of its natural entrance points. Where, because
of the presence of islands, an indentation has more than one mouth, the
semi-circle shall be drawn on a line as long as the sum total of the
lengths of the lines across the different mouths. Islands within an
indentation shall be included as if they were part of the water areas of
the indentation.

4. If the distance between the low-water marks of the natural entrance
points of a bay does not exceed twenty-four miles, a closing line may be
drawn between these two low-water marks, and the waters enclosed thereby
shall be considered as internal waters.

5. Where the distance between the low-water marks of the natural entrance
points of a bay exceeds twenty-four miles, a straight baseline of
twenty-four miles shall be drawn within the bay in such a manner as to
enclose the maximum area of water that is possible with a line of that
length.

6. The foregoing provisions shall not apply to so-called “historic “bays,
or in any case where the straight baseline system provided for in article 4
is applied.

Article 8

For the purpose of delimiting the territorial sea, the outermost permanent
harbour works which form an integral part of the harbour system shall be
regarded as forming part of the coast.

Article 9

Roadsteads which are normally used for the loading, unloading and anchoring
of ships, and which would otherwise be situated wholly or partly outside
the outer limit of the territorial sea, are included in the territorial
sea. The coastal State must clearly demarcate such roadsteads and indicate
them on charts together with their boundaries, to which due publicity must
be given.

Article 10

1. An island is a naturally-formed area of land, surrounded by water, which
is above water at high-tide.

2. The territorial sea of an island is measured in accordance with the
provisions of these articles.

 

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Convention on the Territorial Sea & the Contiguous Zone 2, Convention on the Territorial Sea & the Contiguous Zone 3, Conventions: Chronological Index 1951-1970, High Seas, Marine and Coastal conventions.