An interview with Rüdiger Wolfrum on the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman is a so-called strait. What special rights apply to shipping and coastal states in straits?
There is a separate part on straits in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The purpose of these regulations is to guarantee the freedom of navigation in these waterways to the greatest extent possible. What is special is that straits run through the territorial sea of states, which means that they restrict coastal state competences in this area. The rights of third party states (flag states) remain unaffected, as if they only crossed a territorial sea. At the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, this was one of the most important negotiating points. The proponents of the Regime of the Straits – if I may call it that – were, above all, the USA and the USSR at the time. Both states have so-called blue-water navies and are dependent on free passage through straits. Another difference is that straits may be crossed by submarines under water, while they must navigate on the surface in the territorial sea – but this only on a side note. Läs artikel