EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE / UNCLOS

Subject : International Relations

Context: Pentagon defends US Navy ship asserting navigational rights inside India’s EEZ

Concept :

In an unusual move, the US Navy announced that on Wednesday it conducted a freedom of navigation operation in Indian waters without prior consent to challenge India’s “excessive maritime claims.”
The Government of India’s stated position on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is that the Convention “does not authorise other States to carry out in the EEZ and on the continental shelf, military exercises or manoeuvres, in particular those involving the use of weapons or explosives, without the consent of the coastal state.
While India ratified UNCLOS in 1995, the U.S. has failed to do it so far.

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defined the EEZ as a zone in the sea over which a sovereign nation has certain special rights with respect to the exploration and usage of marine resources, which includes the generation of energy from wind and water, and also oil and natural gas extraction.
The EEZ is an area that is adjacent to and beyond the territorial sea.
It can extend to a maximum of 200 nautical miles from the baseline. The baseline is normally measured is the low-water line along the coast as indicated on large-scale charts officially approved by the coastal state.
The EEZ does not include the territorial sea and also does not include the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.
The EEZ includes the contiguous zone.
Within the EEZ, the country has rights over natural resources. The country has jurisdiction over some activities for the reasons of environmental protection, among others.
It also has to respect the rights of other countries in the EEZ such as the freedom of navigation.
The difference between territorial sea and the EEZ is that the former confers full sovereignty over the waters, whereas the latter is merely a “sovereign right” which refers to the coastal nation’s rights below the surface of the sea. The surface waters are international waters.

Rights of the country in the EEZ

The coastal state has the rights to:
Explore and exploit, conserve and manage the natural resources (living or non-living).
Produce energy from wind, currents and water.
Establish and use artificial islands, structures and installations.
Conduct marine scientific research.
Protect and preserve the marine environment.

UNCLOS

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an international treaty which was adopted and signed in 1982.
It replaced the four Geneva Conventions of April, 1958, which respectively concerned the territorial sea and the contiguous zone, the continental shelf, the high seas, fishing and conservation of living resources on the high seas.
The Convention has created three new institutions on the international scene :
the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
the International Seabed Authority
the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
UNCLOS as the currently prevailing law of the sea is binding completely.
There are 17 parts, 320 articles and nine annexes to UNCLOS
The law of the sea provides for full rights to nations for a 200-mile zone from their shoreline. The sea and oceanic bed extending this area is regarded to be Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and any country can use these waters for their economic utilization.