United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the international
agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS III). The Law of the Sea Convention defines the rights and responsibilities of nations
with respect to their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the
environment, and the management of marine natural resources. UNCLOS came into force in
1994.
UNCLOS replaces the older 'freedom of the seas' concept, dating from the 17th century:
national rights were limited to a specified belt of water extending from a nation's coastlines,
usually 3 nautical miles. All waters beyond national boundaries were considered international
waters: free to all nations, but belonging to none of them. In the early 20th century, some
nations expressed their desire to extend national claims: to include mineral resources, to protect
fish stocks, and to provide the means to enforce pollution controls.
The issue of varying claims of territorial waters was raised in the UN in 1967 by Arvid
Pardo of Malta, and in 1973 the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea was
convened in New York. The resulting convention came into force on 16 November 1994. The
convention set the limit of various areas, measured from a carefully defined baseline. The areas
are as follows:
Internal waters:

Covers all water and waterways on the landward side of the baseline.

Territorial waters:

Out to 12 nautical miles from the baseline, the coastal state is free to set
laws, regulate use, and use any resource. Vessels were given the right of
innocent passage through any territorial waters, with strategic straits
allowing the passage of military craft as transit passage, in that naval
vessels are allowed to maintain postures that would be illegal in territorial
waters.

Archipelagic waters: A baseline is drawn between the outermost points of the outermost
islands, subject to these points being sufficiently close to one another. All
waters inside this baseline are designated Archipelagic Waters. The state
has sovereignty over these waters. Foreign vessels have right of innocent
passage through archipelagic waters.
Contiguous zone:

Exclusive economic
zones (EEZs):

Beyond the 12-nautical-mile limit, there is a further 12 nautical miles from

the territorial sea baseline limit, the contiguous zone, in which a state can
continue to enforce laws in four specific areas: customs, taxation,
immigration and pollution.
These extend from the edge of the territorial sea out to 200 nautical miles
from the baseline. Within this area, the coastal nation has sole
exploitation rights over all natural resources. Foreign nations have the
freedom of navigation and overflight, subject to the regulation of the
coastal states. Foreign states may also lay submarine pipes and cables.

Continental shelf:

The continental shelf is defined as the natural prolongation of the land

territory to the continental margin's outer edge, or 200 nautical miles from
the coastal state's baseline, whichever is greater. A state's continental
shelf may exceed 200 nautical miles until the natural prolongation ends.
However, it may never exceed 350 nautical miles from the baseline; or it
may never exceed 100 nautical miles beyond the 2,500-meter isobaths.
Coastal states have the right to harvest mineral and non-living material in
the subsoil of its continental shelf, to the exclusion of others.

Sea areas in international rights

Registration of ships
(a) Original/ Traditional:
strict national maritime countries, with a refined administration and
detailed laws enforced strictly on a worldwide basis. They are generally very protective of their
vessels being controlled by flag State residents and crewed by nationals trained and certificated
by the flag State. Motivated by both economic and underlying military pressures some of the
flag States tend to support cargo control, at least coastwise, around the flag State. Costs tend to
be high because such flag countries are mostly developed, with crew wages comparatively high
on an international scale, and most maritime personnel belong to mature and powerful unions.
(b) Dependent registries:
is a development mainly within former British colonies. Vessels fly
the British flag and have the rights and obligations of the British Merchant Shipping Acts, but
have some special freedoms which are granted and controlled by the administration of the port
of registry. Of special note are freedoms in terms of crew nationality, tax and limited
relationships with other governments and international regulatory treaties. Typical examples are
Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Bermuda and Cayman Islands.
(c) Open registries/ flag of convenience:
the purpose of these flags is to provide
considerable flexibility in legislation, financing structures, crew nationality and qualifications,
manning requirements, tax regimes etc. They are designer flags embroidered mainly to suit
owner's requirements. The infrastructure, administration and repute of open registries varies
substantially from flag to flag. Examples are Liberia, Panama, Cyprus etc.
(d) A bareboat charter register:
the register that allows a bareboat charter to be registered,
there is where flag and ownership diverge. The United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) has campaigned vigorously against open registers. in 1974 it adopted
a resolution stating that there should be some genuine link between the beneficial owner of
vessels and their flag and registry.
(e) Second registries/ international ship registry: The last and newest sector is the 1980's
response of the traditional maritime nations to their waning national flags: the so called second
registers. The originator of this latest type of flag administration, the second registry, was
Norway. The fleet of Norway, flying an expensive flag, declined massively in the 1980's. The
Norwegian Government set up a second registry in the Port of Bergen in 1987, which allowed,
amongst other things, the employment of foreign seafarers on board Norwegian International
Ship-register vessels {NIS} (providing there was a Norwegian master), while maintaining tight
control over most of the vital safety and other regulations.

Ship owners qualifications: Most merchant ship registration requires that their citizens to be
registered owner. But some relaxation is given in some countries such as Panama, Liberia etc.
Proof of ownership
Declaration of ownership by:
a) Builders certificate for registry of new ship
b) Bill of sale for registering a second-hand ship
In failing to produce either of these the registering of the ship may not be successful.
Tonnage
It is necessary to survey and measure the ship prior to register the ship. Tonnage is a
measure of the size or cargo carrying capacity of a ship. The term derives from the taxation paid
on tons or casks of wine, and was later used in reference to the weight of a ship's cargo;
however, in modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calculation of the volume
or cargo volume of a ship. The term is still sometimes incorrectly used to refer to the weight of a
loaded or empty vessel. Measurement of tonnage can be less than straightforward, not least
because it is used to assess fees on commercial shipping.
Name approval, assigning call sign and official number
Name of the ship:
The proposed name of the ship shall
registering-officer together with the application for the approval.

be

submitted

to

the

Official number and signal letters:

The official number of the ship is usually assigned by the
registering-officer and the signal letters (call sign) of the ship is given by the Post and
Telecommunication department.
Carving note and marking of the ship
After the official number has been allotted, the name approved and the certificate of
survey has been granted by the surveyor, the registering-officer issues to the owner a carving
and marking note which is returned to the registering-officer after the carving and marking have
been duly carried out and certified by the surveyor.
Markings of ship
It shall not be lawful for any owner of any ship to give any name to such ship other than
that by which she was first registered in pursuance of this Act, and the owner of every ship
which shall be so registered shall, before such registry shall begin to take in any cargo, paint, or
cause to be painted, in white or yellow letters of a length no less than four inches upon a black
ground on some conspicuous part of the stern, the name by which such ship shall have been
registered pursuant to this Act, and the port to which she belongs, in a distinct and legible
manner and shall so keep and preserve the same.

Issue of certificate of registry

Upon the completion of the necessary procedures mentioned above, the
registering-officer enters the particulars of the ship in the register book and issues to the owner
the Certificate of Registry, detaining the following with him:

The surveyor's certificate

The builder's certificate / bill of sale
The declaration of ownership
The application, including the proposed name etc...

Ship Registration Process

Owner

Builders

Application of

Contract to build

Proof of ownership

Bill of sale

Builders

Declaration of

Application for ships name

Application for survey

Survey of ship/ Measurement for

Survey report submit to Registrar

Assignment of official number and signal

Carving note

Marking of

Inspection of

Carving note returning of the signed carving note to

Entry into the register book

Issue of certificate of registry