2. India and the Law of the Seas
• After Independence, the activities in the maritime
zones of India are managed by various
governmental ministries, such as the Ministry of
Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, External
Affairs, Defense, Earth Sciences, Law and Justice,
etc., with differing rights, interests, mandates and
responsibilities
• This has led the drafting and enactment of very
general worded statutes in the maritime sector,
which has subsequently led to frail enforcement
provisions which are a bit of a stumbling block.
3. Legislative enactments: an
overview
• In 1976, consequent upon the Third United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(“UNCLOS”), held at Geneva, The Territorial
Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive
Economic Zones and Maritime Zones Act,
1976 was enacted in India.
• Land, minerals and other resources,
underlying the ocean, within the territorial
waters, the continental shelf or the
Exclusive Economic Zone (“EEZ”) are vested
with the Union of India.
4. The Territorial Waters, Continental
Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zones and
Maritime Zones Act, 1976
• The Act categorically prescribes the limits of
the territorial waters, continental shelf, EEZ
and other maritime zones of India.
• It also provides the legal framework specifying
the nature, scope and extent of India’s rights,
• jurisdiction and control of various maritime
zones; the maritime boundaries between India
and its neighboring countries; and
• the exploitation, exploration, conservation and
management of natural resources within the
maritime zones.
5. The Maritime Zones of India (Regulation of
Fishing by Foreign Vessels) Act, 1981 (“the
MZI Act”):
• Subsequent to the enactment of the Act, the MZI
Act was enacted to curb poaching activities by
foreign fishing vessels in the Indian EEZ.
• Under the MZI Act, the EEZ was protected from
exploitation of living resources by Indians and/or
foreign nationals aboard a foreign vessel, which did
not hold a valid license/permit issued under the
MZI Act.
• Further, the MZI Act awarded imprisonment, heavy
fines and confiscation of the foreign fishing vessels
convicted of offences of illegal fishing
6. Maritime Zones
• Territorial waters is the line every point of
which is at a distance of twelve nautical
miles from the nearest point of the
appropriate baseline.
• The contiguous zone of India is an area
beyond and adjacent to the territorial waters
and the limit of the contiguous zone is the
line every point of which is at a distance of
twenty-four nautical miles from the nearest
point of the baseline
7. Maritime Zones
• The continental shelf of India comprises the
seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that
extend beyond the limit of its territorial waters
throughout the natural prolongation of its land
territory to the outer edge of the continental
margin or to a distance of two hundred nautical
miles from the baseline
• The exclusive economic zone of India is an area
beyond and adjacent to the territorial waters, and
the limit of such zone is two hundred nautical
miles from the baseline.
8. Maritime Zones
• Historic waters.— The Central Government may, by notification in
the Official Gazette, specify the limits of such waters adjacent to its
land territory as are the historic waters of India.
• Maritime boundaries between India and States having coasts
opposite or adjacent to those of India.—
• The maritime boundaries between India and any State whose
coast is opposite or adjacent to that of India in regard to their
respective territorial waters, contiguous zones, continental
shelves, exclusive economic zones and other maritime zones
shall be as determined by agreement between India and such
State and pending such agreement between India and any
such State, and
• unless any other provisional arrangements are agreed to
between them,
• the maritime boundaries between India and such State shall
not extend beyond the line every point of which is equidistant
from the nearest point from which the breadth of the territorial
waters of India and of such State are measured.
10. UNCLOS Maritime Zones
• United Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, also known as
Law of the Sea divides marine areas into
five main zones namely-
1.Internal Waters,
2.Territorial Sea,
3.Contiguous Zone,
4.Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and
5.High Seas.
11. • UNCLOS is the only international
convention which stipulates a framework
for state jurisdiction in maritime spaces. It
provides a different legal status to
different maritime zones.
• It provides the backbone for offshore
governance by coastal states and those
navigating the oceans.
• Also provides specific guidance for states’
rights and responsibilities in the five
concentric zones.
12.
13. Internal Waters
• Internal Waters: Internal waters are waters on the
landward side of the baseline from which the breadth
of the territorial sea is measured.
Baseline: It is the low-water line along the coast
as officially recognized by the coastal state.
• Each coastal state has full sovereignty over its
internal waters as like its land territory.
• Examples of internal waters include bays, ports,
inlets, rivers and even lakes that are connected to the
sea.
• There is no right of innocent passage through
internal waters.
14. Territorial Sea:
• The territorial sea extends seaward up to 12
nautical miles (nm) from its baselines.
A nautical mile is based on the circumference of
the earth and is equal to one minute of latitude. It
is slightly more than a land measured mile
(1 nautical mile = 1.1508 land miles or 1.85
km).
• The coastal states have sovereignty and jurisdiction
over the territorial sea. These rights extend not only
on the surface but also to the seabed, subsoil, and
even airspace.
• But the coastal states’ rights are limited by the
innocent passage through the territorial sea.
15. Contiguous Zone:
• The contiguous zone extends seaward up to 24
nm from its baselines. It is an intermediary
zone between the territorial sea and the high
seas. The coastal state has the right to both
prevent and punish infringement of fiscal,
immigration, sanitary, and customs laws within
its territory and territorial sea.
• Unlike the territorial sea, the contiguous zone
only gives jurisdiction to a state on the
ocean’s surface and floor. It does not provide
air and space rights.
16. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ):
• Each coastal State may claim an EEZ beyond and
adjacent to its territorial sea that extends seaward up
to 200 nm from its baselines.
• Within its EEZ, a coastal state has: Sovereign rights
for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving
and managing natural resources, whether living or
nonliving, of the seabed and subsoil.
• Rights to carry out activities like the production of
energy from the water, currents and wind.
• Unlike the territorial sea and the contiguous zone, the
EEZ only allows for the above-mentioned resource
rights. It does not give a coastal state the right to
prohibit or limit freedom of navigation or
overflight, subject to very limited exceptions.
17. High Seas:
• The ocean surface and the water column
beyond the EEZ are referred to as the high
seas.
• It is considered as “the common heritage of
all mankind” and is beyond any national
jurisdiction.
• States can conduct activities in these areas
as long as they are for peaceful purposes,
such as transit, marine science, and
undersea exploration.
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21.
22. Littoral zone
• A littoral zone is the near shore area
from the high water line to where the
sunlight penetrates to the sediments in a
water body.
• This zone may or may not contain plant
life but it is the optimal region for aquatic
plants to grow.
• Littoral zones are present in both fresh
and saltwater environments.
23. Sublitoral Zone
• The sublittoral is the environment beyond
the low-tide mark and is often used to refer
to substrata of the continental shelf, which
reaches depths of between 150 and 300
metres.
• and extending to about 200 m depth or to
the edge of the continental shelf.
• Different types of oysters, star fish, sea
urchins, coral, crabs, and anemones live in
the sublittoral zone.
• They are provided with sunlight and food,
but there are also many predators.
24. Neritic zone
• The neritic zone is the region of shallow
water (200 meters depth) above the
continental shelf where light penetrates to
the sea floor.
• Due to the abundant supply of sunlight
and nutrients in this zone, it is the most
productive ocean zone supporting the
vast majority of marine life.
25. Pelagic zone
• The pelagic zone consists of the Water
column of the open ocean, and can be
further divided into regions by depth.
• The pelagic zone can be thought of in
terms of an imaginary cylinder or water
column that goes from the surface of
the sea almost to the bottom. Conditions
in the water column change with
distance from the surface (depth): the
pressure increases; the temperature and
amount of light decreases; the salinity
and amount of dissolved oxygen, as well
as micronutrients such as iron,
magnesium and calcium, all change
26. Epipelagic
• This is the illuminated zone at the surface of
the sea where enough light is available for
photosynthesis.
• Nearly all primary production in the ocean
occurs here. Consequently, plants and
animals are largely concentrated in this zone.
• Examples of organisms living in this zone are
plankton, floating seaweed, jellyfish, tuna,
many sharks and dolphins.
• From the surface (MSL) down to around 200 m
27. Mesopelagic
• The most abundant organisms thriving into
the mesopelagic zone are heterotrophic
bacteria.
• Examples of animals that live here are
swordfish, squid, wolffish and some species of
cuttlefish.
• Many organisms that live in this zone are
bioluminescent.
• Some creatures living in the mesopelagic zone
rise to the epipelagic zone at night to feed.
• From 200 m down to around 1,000 m
28. Bathypelagic
• At this depth, the ocean is pitch black, apart
from occasional bioluminescent organisms,
such as anglerfish. No living plant exists here.
• Most animals living here survive by consuming
the detritus falling from the zones above, which
is known as "marine snow", or, like the marine
hatchetfish, by preying on other inhabitants of
this zone.
• Other examples of this zone's inhabitants are
giant squid, smaller squids and the
grimpoteuthis or "dumbo octopus".
• From 1,000 m (3,300 ft) down to around 4,000 m
(13,000 ft)
29. Abyssopelagic
• Very few creatures live in the cold
temperatures, high pressures and complete
darkness of this depth.
• Among the species found in this zone are
several species of squid; echinoderms including
the basket star, swimming cucumber, and the
sea pig; and marine arthropods including the
sea spider.
• Many of the species living at these depths are
transparent and eyeless because of the total
lack of light in this zone.
• From around 4,000 m (13,000 ft) down to
above the ocean floor.
30. Hadopelagic zone
• Hadopelagic zone is the deepest region
of the ocean lying within oceanic
trenches. The hadal zone is found from a
depth of around 6,000 to 11,000 metres
(20,000 to 36,000 ft), and exists in long
but narrow topographic V-shaped
depressions
