8.3.1 UNCLOS (LOSC)
Signator y States
There are 162 nations that are signatories to the Law of
the Sea Convention so far. These include the North Pacific
Gyre neighboring states Mexico, Japan, China, Russia and
Canada. The United States has not approved UNCLOS. (In
2012 only 34 U.S. Senators said they would not approve
the treaty; it takes 67 senators to overcome a filibuster.)
The United States recognizes most of the LOSC as customary
international law, except for the 1994 provisions
relating to the International Seabed Authority and seabed
mining.
• Article 87(1): LOSC Article 87 lists the ability to
construct artificial islands and to conduct scientific
research as two of the six “freedoms of the high seas.”
The High Seas, beyond the continental shelves and
EEZs of neighboring countries, are not subject to the
jurisdiction of any state, unless a country flags the
vessels or platforms. See discussion in bycatch paper
submitted by the IOLSI.
“[C]onstruction of artificial islands or installations on
the high seas does not acquire for the relevant state any
form of sovereignty over that area such as a capacity to
generate maritime claims nor does it impact upon the delimitation
of maritime boundaries. States may also elect
to construct artificial islands for the purposes of marine
scientific research, in which case provisions found in Part
XIII of the LOSC would also be applicable.”
The International Law of the Sea, Donald R. Rothwell and
Tim Stephens, 2010 ed., p. 157.
If the platforms and vessels were flagged by a state or
states they would be subject to the laws of that state or
states. An assumption for this feasibility study at this
point, for the sake of analysis, is that platforms will not
be flagged by a state.
The question then is whether the UN would have some
role in jurisdiction over the platforms, either by flagging
or otherwise.
8.3.2 Can the United Nat ions flag vessels or
platforms ?
Possibly. While the UN International Law Commission
(ILC), in preparing the draft of what became the High Seas
Convention, rejected the flagging of vessels by the UN
and other international organizations, the 1958 Geneva
Conference inserted Article 7 in the High Seas Convention
stating that the provisions of the Convention “do not
prejudice the question of ships employed on the official
service of an intergovernmental organization flying the
flag of the organization.” However, the LOSC (UNCLOS)
Article 93 allows the UN, its specialized agencies and
the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), to flag UN
vessels.
However, LOSC (UNCLOS) Article 93 allows the UN, its
specialized agencies, and the IAEA (International Atomic
Energy Agency) to flag UN vessels. For example, In 1956
the UN flagged some of its own ships responding as part
of the 1956-7 UN Emergency Force in Egypt. See discussion
of this and other examples at UNCLOS I, Official Records,
Vol. IV, p. 138.