Methods of determining baselines to calculate the breadth of territorial waters?
All maritime zones are determined based on baselines used to measure the breadth of the territorial sea. The 1982 Convention provides for two main methods of establishing baselines: normal baselines and straight baselines.
Article 5 of the 1982 Convention provides: "Except where otherwise provided in this Convention, 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". For islands constructed of coral reefs or islands surrounded by fringing reefs, the normal baseline method also applies (Article 6).
This method has the advantage of accurately reflecting the coastlines of countries, limiting the expansion of maritime zones under national jurisdiction. However, this method is very difficult to apply to winding, complex coastlines.
According to Article 7 of the 1982 Convention, the straight baseline method is applied in places where the coastline is indented, deeply indented and concave; in places where there is a chain of islands running through; in places where there are special natural conditions that cause instability of the coastline such as deltas. The Convention does not provide any objective criteria to determine what is an indented, deeply indented and concave coast or what is an island chain. However, from practice, it can be agreed that a deeply indented and concave coast must have many estuaries and many bays that meet the standards of legal bays stipulated in Article 10 of the 1982 Convention, even if this coast also has other less indented estuaries or the island chain includes many islands and can be 2 or 3 islands. Similarly, the Convention does not have a criterion for what is "located immediately adjacent to and running along the coast"...
Therefore, the Convention sets out two conditions in drawing straight baselines: the line of the baselines must not depart to any appreciable extent from the general direction of the coast and the maritime areas lying within these baselines must be sufficiently closely linked to the land area to be subject to the regime of internal waters. However, in drawing certain straight baselines as provided for in Article 7, paragraph 1, the coastal State may take into account the special economic interests of the area, the importance of which has been demonstrated by long usage.
In addition, the Convention has three provisions: first, straight baselines may not be drawn to or from low-tide elevations, except in cases where there are lighthouses or other above-water facilities or where the drawing of such straight baselines has been internationally recognized; second, the straight baseline method applied by a State must not cut off the territorial sea of another State from the high seas or the exclusive economic zone; third, the coastal State must publish in due course charts or lists of geographical coordinates of its baseline system and deposit one copy with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
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