Who goes where, when, and how: international Law of the Sea for transportation

Major LOS controversies over navigation concern access to the waters of archipelagoes, the scope of coastal authority over passage through the territorial sea and straits, and navigation through ocean areas adjacent to the territorial sea. Proposals at the LOS Conference pertaining to access to archipelagic waters focus on new rights for island nations and on safeguards for navigation interests. The specific issues at stake in the territorial sea and in straits concern innocent passage for warships, coastal authority to deny innocent passage, clarification of the concept of innocent passage, and the scope and content of a claimed special right of transit for straits. Beyond the territorial sea the most important navigation issues relate to the extent of coastal authority other than control of resources. Controls over vessel source pollution are at issue as well as the relationship of navigation to resource measures. Assessment of the various interests at stake and of the trends in consideration of proposed treaty arrangements on the above issues suggests that, in general, navigation uses of the ocean will not suffer unduly in the LOS treaty expected to emerge in 1977. However, proposals to create a new zone, called the economic zone, which would be subtracted from the high seas, pose a possible long-term threat to navigation interests.