Maritime Security in the South China Sea: Coordinating Coastal and User State Priorities

Maritime security concerns in the South China Sea are increasing for several reasons: higher volumes of shipping traffic, protection of exclusive economic zone resources, piracy, terrorist threats, greater international scrutiny of ports and shipping, and the modernization of regional naval and coast guard forces. Coastal states and international user states have many overlapping interests in the South China Sea, for example, in promoting safe navigation through its busy sea-lanes. On other issues, in particular, antipiracy or anti-maritime terrorism measures, they have different views about the seriousness of the threats and the responses necessary to address them. This article examines the convergent and divergent maritime security interests of coastal states (China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore) and international user states (Australia, India, Japan, and the United States) in the South China Sea. It finds that multiple stakeholders pursuing diverse interests have yet to close the gap between goals and means of achieving maritime security.     

Maritime Security Initiatives in East Asia: Assessment and the Way Forward

In the post-cold war era, especially in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, maritime security has become a priority on the national agendas. East Asian countries are concerned about maritime security given their overwhelming dependence on seaborne commerce and the vital importance of the sea-lanes of communication. This article examines the maritime security initiatives, mostly initiated by the United States, that have been adopted and implemented in East Asia.     

The Economics of International Cooperation in the Apprehension and Prosecution of Maritime Pirates

Article 100 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea requires parties to “cooperate” against maritime piracy, but how this cooperation is to be achieved is undefined. Enforcement is a public good—creating uncompensated benefits for others, thus suffering from free rider problems. The analysis in this article explains why more pirates captured are released than prosecuted, why the United Nations and the International Maritime Organization are seeking to reduce enforcement costs, why some in the shipping industry want to apply the 1988 Convention Against Terrorism at Sea, and why still others want to move prosecution of pirates from national courts to an international court.     

A Note on the United States and the Law of the Sea: Looking Back and Moving Forward

Since the Antarctic Treaty was negotiated in 1959, there have been substantial developments in the law of the sea. One of the most significant developments has been the recognition granted to coastal state entitlements to claim a range of offshore maritime areas. Yet, one of the principal aims of the Antarctic Treaty was to eliminate sovereignty disputes between territorial claimants, and the treaty placed limitations on the assertion of new claims. Nevertheless, most Antarctic territorial claimants have asserted some form of Antarctic maritime claim. This article particularly considers Australia's position toward maritime claims offshore the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT). It reviews the limitations imposed by the Antarctic Treaty, the difficulties in determining baselines in Antarctica, Australia's practice in declaring Antarctic maritime claims, and the potential range of maritime boundaries that Australia may one day have to delimit with neighboring states in the Southern Ocean.     

Regional Maritime Regime Building: Prospects in Northeast and Southeast Asia

Maritime issues are rising to the forefront of Asian security concerns. But maritime management regimes can constrain conflict and create confidence in co-operation. Such regimes can define the range of permissible state behavior and resolve dilemmas stemming from the sharing of common resources. Regimes originate through imposition, spontaneous processes, or negotiation and are supplied when there is sufficient demand for the functions they perform. Integrative forces that support regime formation are the existence of other international arrangements in the region; ethnic, cultural, or historical interstate relationships; and clear indications of benefits to be gained. Often a shock or crisis enhances regime formation or its robustness. Disintegrative forces include political or territorial differences, competition for leadership, and opposition to regionalism. In regional co-operation on maritime issues, Southeast Asia is clearly more advanced than Northeast Asia. However, the absence of robust multilateral maritime regimes in Asia reflects state perceptions that the costs outweigh the benefits. The primacy of dis-integrative factors argues strongly for an ad hoc, issue-specific, evolutionary process for multilateral maritime regime building in Asia.     

Managing Vietnam's Maritime Boundary Disputes

This article examines the progress made in managing Vietnam's maritime boundary disputes and analyzes the challenges that lie ahead relating to unsettled disputes. The continuity and change in Vietnam's approach to dispute a settlement and the difficulties in managing the unresolved maritime disputes are assessed. Vietnam has made considerable progress in managing its maritime disputes; however, continued efforts are needed to address the unresolved disputes.     

Korean Peninsula Maritime Issues

In the unique situation of the Korean Peninsula, which is still technically in a state of war, maritime issues are increasingly becoming critical in the relations between South Korea and North Korea. While cooperation in maritime affairs has helped to ease tensions and paved a way to reconciliatory efforts, maritime disputes adjacent to the Northern Limit Lines in the West and East Seas and maritime security issues such as South Korea's engagement in the Proliferation Security Initiative remain a source of conflict. This article looks at maritime affairs on the Korean Peninsula—a leading area of cooperation between the South and the North as well as a potential conflict flash point.     

The Sewol Ferry Disaster in Korea and Maritime Safety Management

The sinking of the Sewol ferry on April 16, 2014, in Korea, the deadliest peacetime maritime accident in decades, was caused by a variety of factors, including human error and institutional and legal deficiencies. This article reviews the incident and its consequences.     

Reflections on the Principle of Non-Cut Off: A Growing Concept in Maritime Boundary Delimitation Law

The application of the principle of non-cut off is a significant tool in maritime delimitation to provide an equitable solution. Unfortunately, scholars and experts have paid scant attention to this principle of maritime delimitation. This article analyzes the growing role of the principle of non-cut off in the law of maritime boundary delimitation and examines the related jurisprudence on the issue.     

Crossed Lines: The Curious Case of the Beaufort Sea Maritime Boundary Dispute

The Beaufort Sea maritime boundary dispute has traditionally been understood as involving a wedge-shaped area of maritime space that extends to a distance of 200 nautical miles north of the terminus of the Canada-United States border between the Yukon Territory and Alaska. However, new data collected in pursuit of establishing the limits of the extended continental shelf in the region show that the two countries’ seabed resource rights may stretch far beyond the 200-nautical-mile limit of the exclusive economic zone. Significantly, at approximately 200 nautical miles from shore, the U.S.-claimed equidistance line crosses the line claimed by Canada, which follows the 141° W meridian, meaning that the legal positions of the two countries if simply extended beyond the EEZ would appear to favor the other party. This article explores how the United States and Canada might seek to reformulate their legal positions to resolve the dispute. Though these reformulated positions might not reduce the area in dispute, they will clarify it and potentially enable the parties to either delimit a single maritime boundary or choose to implement one of a number of creative solutions to the dispute that are outlined in the article.     

A Note on Maritime Delimitation in a Multizonal Context: The Case of the Mediterranean

This article points out some of the issues that may arise during the delimitation of maritime boundary in a sea area where coastal states have proclaimed various maritime zones. Issues considered include delimitation in the presence of overlapping or coincident zones, the role of existing boundaries, use of all-purpose maritime boundaries, and the delimitation of future zones. Special reference is made to the Mediterranean Sea where coastal states have advanced various claims consisting of zones sometimes different from the ones provided for in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.     

China and Japan Maritime Disputes in the East China Sea: A Note on Recent Developments

This article examines recent developments in the East China Sea maritime disputes, focusing primarily on the Principled Consensus agreed on by China and Japan for the joint development of energy resources. The article also provides a perspective on the East China Sea maritime disputes between the two countries within the context of international relations.     

Maritime Delimitation and Fishery Cooperation in the Tonkin Gulf

In June 2004 China and Vietnam ratified both a maritime boundary agreement for the Tonkin Gulf (Beibu Gulf) and a fisheries cooperation agreement for the Gulf. These agreements end years of negotiation and debate regarding the rights of the respective states to the ocean areas and resources in the Gulf.     

The Sino-Vietnamese Agreement on Maritime Boundary Delimitation in the Gulf of Tonkin

This article addresses the recently ratified Sino-Vietnamese Boundary Delimitation Agreement in the Gulf of Tonkin and its implications for bilateral cooperation and development of friendly and neighboring relations between China and Vietnam. As the first maritime boundary line for China, the delimitation in the Gulf of Tonkin is indicative of China's positive attitude towards the resolution of other maritime issues with Vietnam and other neighboring countries.     

The European Union and Ocean Use Management: The Marine Strategy and the Maritime Policy

Problems resulting from contemporary patterns of ocean use and threats to the viability of the marine environment have led to reconsideration of ocean use governance in a number of states, including the United States, Australia, and Canada. For its part, the European Union has been working on the development of a Marine Strategy to safeguard the environment and a more encompassing Maritime Policy into which the Marine Strategy would be folded. The desired Maritime Policy would reflect a holistic perspective of ocean space, embody an ecosystem-based approach to ocean use management, and provide a broad framework for ocean/coastal management. As has been seen elsewhere, developing such a governance system is difficult both in terms of conceptualization and, subsequently, in operationalization. The June 2006 European Commission Green Paper on Maritime Policy sets the stage for a year of consultations designed to develop an effective governance system for ocean management. Institutional and policy changes will be needed and it will be necessary to balance the objectives of economic growth and protection of environmental sustainability. This article examines current developments in efforts to devise a coherent and integrated European Union approach to ocean management.     

The Legal Status and Operation of Unmanned Maritime Vehicles

The number of unmanned maritime vehicles (UMVs) and their potential applications in the marine space are growing constantly. Because of their comparatively small size and limited operations, only modest attention has been paid to how they fit into the international legal framework. Many UMVs may not be considered to fall under the definition of "ship" so as to enjoy states' rights of navigation under UNCLOS. Therefore states, manufacturers, and investors remain uncertain about the rights and obligations regarding UMV operations in the various maritime zones. This article addresses these questions for a range of UMVs with differing levels of autonomy. It argues that the international legal framework delegates the question of whether a UMV is a ship or not to the flag state's national laws. The article suggests that such a determination will be binding on other states. With respect to UMVs that do not fall under the definition of ship, there is remaining uncertainty about whether any navigational rights in the jurisdictional zones of other states are available, while it is argued that such rights do exist in the areas beyond national jurisdiction. The article also considers the extent to which today's UMVs can comply with the international framework for ensuring safety at sea. For those UMVs falling under the definition of ship, compliance with the current regulatory framework for shipping is required and compliance will be more difficult as the level of UMV autonomy increases.     

The Admissibility of Outer Continental Shelf Delimitation Claims Before the ICJ Absent a Recommendation by the CLCS

In the 2017 Maritime Delimitation in the Indian Ocean Case, the International Court of Justice stated that “in appropriate circumstances” maritime delimitation claims beyond 200 nm may be admitted before the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf issues a recommendation. This is a deviation from the Court's previous approach in the 2016 Nicaragua v. Colombia (Preliminary Objections) Case. This article follows the evolution of the international case law with respect to the admissibility of outer continental shelf delimitation claims absent a final and binding outer limit, and highlights the positive implications of the International Court's most recent formula.     

Beads, Bifaces, and Boats: An Early Maritime Adaptation on the South Coast of San Miguel Island, California

Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites on California's Channel Islands provide evidence for early maritime activity, including the use of seaworthy boats. Numerous early shell middens have been identified, but specific information on the maritime peoples who occupied them is limited. Our research at CA-SMI-608, a roughly 9,500-year-old shell midden on San Miguel Island, produced a relatively large assemblage of bifaces and other chipped stone artifacts, shell beads, worked bone, and well-preserved faunal remains. Food remains are dominated by mussels, abalones, and other shellfish from the rocky intertidal, but fish, sea mammal, and sea bird remains were also recovered. These data provide a detailed view of early maritime activities along an arid coastline previously considered marginal to human settlement.     

The Expansion of and Changes to the National Coast Guards in East Asia

Abstract

East Asian countries have vigorously engaged in a buildup of the capabilities of their coast guards. This has been driven in part by the need to protect their maritime jurisdiction in the face of numerous maritime disputes. The coast guards in East Asia serve as the front-line defender of sovereignty and maritime claims.     

The Indonesian Legal Framework on Baselines,Archipelagic Passage,and Innocent Passage

As an archipelagic state, Indonesia is faced with a wide range of potential maritime security threats. This article analyzes the existing Indonesian legislation on baselines, archipelagic passage, and innocent passage in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The article demonstrates the challenges that exist in implementing the key navigational rights laws.