International waters

Updated on Nov 22, 2024

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The terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems (aquifers), and wetlands.

International waters have no sovereignty, ergo is "Terra nullius" as no state controls it. All states have the freedom of: fishing, navigation, overflight, laying cables and pipelines, and research.

Oceans, seas, and waters outside of national jurisdiction are also referred to as the high seas or, in Latin, mare liberum (meaning free sea). The Convention on the High Seas, which has 63 signatories, defined "high seas" to mean "all parts of the sea that are not included in the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a State" and where "no State may validly purport to subject any part of them to its sovereignty." The Convention on the High Seas was replaced by United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which recognized Exclusive Economic Zones extending 200 nautical miles from the baseline, where coastal States have sovereign rights to the water column and sea floor as well as the natural resources found there.

Ships sailing the high seas are generally under the jurisdiction of the flag state (if there is one); however, when a ship is involved in certain criminal acts, such as piracy, any nation can exercise jurisdiction under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction. International waters can be contrasted with internal waters, territorial waters and exclusive economic zones.

International waterways

Several international treaties have established freedom of navigation on semi-enclosed seas.

The Copenhagen Convention of 1857 opened access to the Baltic by abolishing the Sound Dues and making the Danish Straits an international waterway free to all commercial and military shipping.

Several conventions have opened the Bosphorus and Dardanelles to shipping. The latest, the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits, maintains the straits' status as an international waterway.

Other international treaties have opened up rivers, which are not traditionally international waterways.

The Danube River is an international waterway so that landlocked Austria, Hungary, Moldova, Serbia, and Slovakia can have secure access to the Black Sea.

Disputes over international waters

Current unresolved disputes over whether particular waters are "International waters" include:

The Arctic Ocean: While Canada, Denmark, Russia and Norway all regard parts of the Arctic seas as national waters or internal waters, most European Union countries and the United States officially regard the whole region as international waters. The Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago is one of the more prominent examples, with Canada claiming it as internal waters, while the United States and the European Union considers it an international strait.

The Southern Ocean: Australia claims an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around its Antarctic territorial claim. Since this claim is only recognised by four other countries, the EEZ claim is also disputed.

Area around Okinotorishima: Japan claim Okinotorishima is an islet and thus they should have an EEZ around it, but some neighboring countries claim it is an atoll and thus should not have an EEZ.

South China Sea: See Territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Some countries [like Japan, India, the United States] consider (at least part of) the South China Sea as international waters, but this viewpoint is not universal.

In addition to formal disputes, the government of Somalia exercises little control de facto over Somali territorial waters. Consequently, much piracy, illegal dumping of waste and fishing without permit has occurred.

Although water is often seen as a source of conflict, recent research suggests that water management can be a source for cooperation between countries. Such cooperation will benefit participating countries by being the catalyst for larger socio-economic development. For instance, the countries of the Senegal River Basin that cooperate through the Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Sénégal (OMVS) have achieved greater socio-economic development and overcome challenges relating to agriculture and other issues.

Global agreements

International Freshwater Treaties Database (freshwater only).

The Yearbook of International Cooperation on Environment and Development profiles agreements regarding the Marine Environment, Marine Living Resources and Freshwater Resources.

1972 London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention 1972).

1973 London International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 MARPOL

1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, United Nations; especially parts XII–XIV).

1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (CIW) - not ratified.

Transboundary Groundwater Treaty, Bellagio Draft - proposed, but not signed.

Other global conventions and treaties with implications for International Waters:

1971 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

1992 Convention on Biological Diversity.

Regional agreements

At least ten conventions are included within the Regional Seas Program of UNEP, including:

the Atlantic Coast of West and Central Africa;
the North-East Pacific (Antigua Convention);
the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention);
the wider Caribbean (Cartagena Convention);
the South-East Pacific;
the South Pacific (Nouméa Convention);
the East African seaboard;
the Kuwait region (Kuwait Convention);
the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden (Jeddah Convention).

Addressing regional freshwater issues is the 1992 Helsinki Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UNECE/Helsinki Water Convention)