Territoriality and jurisdiction at sea; UNCLOS, territorial waters and exclusive economic zones; the institutions of ocean governance; and disputes over sovereignty and resources.

What this dot point is asking

Eduqas wants you to explain territoriality and jurisdiction at sea, define the maritime zones set by UNCLOS, describe the institutions of ocean governance, and evaluate how effective that governance is, including disputes over sovereignty and resources.

The answer

Maritime zones and UNCLOS

UNCLOS sets the legal geography of the sea in zones measured from the baseline (roughly the low-water line). Territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles, where the coastal state has full sovereignty (subject to ships' right of innocent passage). The contiguous zone extends to 24 nautical miles, where the state can enforce customs, immigration and sanitary law. The exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extends to 200 nautical miles, giving the state exclusive rights to the resources (fish, oil, gas, minerals) but not full sovereignty over the water itself. Beyond the EEZ lie the high seas, the global commons open to all states. The key distinction Eduqas tests is between sovereignty (territorial waters) and resource rights (the EEZ).

The institutions of ocean governance

Because the ocean is partly a global commons, its governance depends on cooperation among sovereign states through these institutions. UNCLOS is the foundation; the IMO sets global rules for shipping safety and marine pollution; regional fisheries bodies try to manage shared stocks; and treaties on biodiversity and pollution add environmental protection. The recent High Seas Treaty (the BBNJ agreement) sought to extend protection to biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. The structural weakness is that these bodies can set rules but have limited power to enforce them against states that decline to comply.

Effectiveness and disputes

Ocean governance is partially effective. UNCLOS provides a near-universal legal framework that has resolved many maritime boundaries and clarified rights, and cooperative regimes manage some shipping and fisheries well. But it is weakly enforced, a major power (the United States) has signed but not ratified it, the high seas remain thinly governed, and disputes show its limits: in the South China Sea, China has rejected a 2016 international tribunal ruling against its expansive claims and built artificial islands, while in the Arctic, melting ice has opened competition over shipping routes and seabed resources among the bordering states. Eduqas expects a judgement that governance works where states cooperate but fails where sovereignty and resource interests override the rules.

Examples in context

Example 1. The South China Sea dispute. The South China Sea is the standout case of ocean governance under strain. China claims most of the sea within a "nine-dash line", overlapping the EEZs of the Philippines, Vietnam and others, and has built and militarised artificial islands to assert control over fisheries, shipping lanes and seabed energy. In 2016 an UNCLOS tribunal ruled against China's expansive claim, but China rejected the ruling and continued, with no body able to enforce it. The dispute shows both the value of the UNCLOS framework and its central weakness, the absence of enforcement against a powerful state, a key Eduqas evaluation example.

Example 2. The Arctic and the opening ocean. As sea ice melts, the Arctic Ocean is becoming navigable and its seabed accessible, opening competition among the bordering states (Russia, Canada, the USA, Norway, Denmark) over shipping routes (the Northern Sea Route) and seabed resources (oil, gas and minerals). States are submitting overlapping claims to extend their continental shelves under UNCLOS, and Russia has planted a flag on the seabed at the North Pole. The Arctic shows governance attempting to manage new resource competition through the UNCLOS process, and the risk of dispute where national interests and a changing environment collide.

Try this

Q1. State the distance and the rights of the exclusive economic zone under UNCLOS. [2 marks]

• Cue. The EEZ extends to 200 nautical miles from the baseline and gives the coastal state exclusive rights to the resources (fish, oil, gas, minerals), but not full sovereignty over the water.

Q2. Explain one reason ocean governance is only partially effective. [3 marks]

• Cue. UNCLOS is weakly enforced and not ratified by every major power, so states can ignore rulings (as China did over the South China Sea), and the high seas remain a thinly governed global commons.