Law of the Sea Convention is an international agreement that establishes nations’ rights and obligations regarding the ocean. For example, it specifies how far a country’s borders may extend beyond its shoreline. It also seeks to regulate mining at the bottom of the ocean. The treaty’s official name is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is sometimes referred to as UNCLOS.
The United Nations sponsored the treaty, which took effect in 1994 after 60 nations ratified it. The agreement applies only to nations that have officially consented to its terms. The United States has not ratified the treaty.
The treaty specifies that a nation’s territorial waters extend only 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) from its shore. Within these waters, a nation can completely control natural resources and the passage of ships, though foreign ships must be allowed passage for peaceful purposes. Some countries that have not signed the treaty claim territorial rights up to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) offshore. The treaty grants most coastal nations a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, where the country has sole rights to all natural resources, including fish. Ocean areas not covered by the treaty are called the high seas or international waters and lie outside the authority of any nation (see High seas ). The treaty also requires that important straits remain open for the free use of all ships.
The treaty seeks to fairly distribute the minerals that lie on or below the ocean floor in international waters. The pact treats the minerals as “the common heritage of mankind.” However, only a few nations have the technological ability to mine them. For this reason, the treaty requires any country or company that wishes to mine the seabed in international waters to identify two promising sites. An organization set up by the treaty, called the International Seabed Authority, would help develop one of the two sites. The country or company could mine the other one independently. The benefits or profits from the International Seabed Authority’s activities would be distributed internationally, in part to the world’s less technologically developed countries. The treaty also requires nations to guard against ocean pollution from seabed mining, offshore oil wells, land-based sources, and vessels at sea.
