Maritime Zones of Maldives Act (No. 6/96)

Maldives Maritime Zones ofMaldives Act No. 6/96 1 [Unofficial translation] Introduction 1. This Act makes provision in respect of the intemal waters, territorial sea and contiguous zone and the exclusive economic zone ofMaldives. This Act shall be cited as "Maritime Zones of Maldives Act". Intemal waters 2. The inland waters of every atoll of Maldives, lagoons and reefs of islands shall be the intemal waters of Maldives. In addition to these waters, the Government of Maldives has the right to designate, in accordance with the rule of intemationallaw, other maritime areas as intemal waters of Maldives. Archipelagic waters 3. Save the internal waters ofMaldives as determined under section 2 of this Act, the marititime area contained within the archipelagic baselines established in accordance with Schedule 1 to this Act shall be the archipelagic waters of Maldives. Territorial sea 4. The maritime area contained within 12 nautical miles measured from the archipelagic baselines established in a..ccordance with Schedule 1 to this Act shall be the territorial sea of Maldives. Contiguous zone 5. The maritime area contained within 12 nautical miles measured from the outer limits of the territorial sea as determined under section 4 of this Act shall be the contiguous zone of Maldives. Exclusive economic zone 6. The maritime area adjacent to and beyond the territorial sea as determined under section 4 of this Act together with the seabed thereof up to 200 nautical miles measured from the archipelagic baselines as established in accordance with Schedule 1 to this Act shall be the exclusive economic zone ofMaldives. Overlap between the exclusive zone of Maldives and the exclusive economic zone of another State 7. In the event that the exclusive economic zone of Maldives as determined under section 6 of this Act overlaps with the exclusive economic zone of another State, this Act does not prohibit the Government of Maldives from entering into an agreement with that State as regards the area of overlapping and delimiting the exclusive economic zone of Maldives for the said area of overlapping. Source: US Department of State. Sovereignty 8. In addition to the land territory of Maldives and the airspace thereabove, the sovereignty of Maldives shall extend to the internal waters, archipelagic waters and territorial sea, together with the seabed and subsoil and airspace thereof. Sovereign rights 9. Within its exclusive economic zone, Maldives shall have sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources contained therein, whether living or non-living, and with regard to other activities for purposes of the economic exploitation of the zone. Economic exploitation of the natural resources found in the zone by persons other than nationals of Maldives or the conduct of scientific research within the zone as well as the construction, operation and use ofany artificial island installation or structure within the zone for any of the foregoing purposes shall be subject to authorization from the Government of Maldives. Jurisdiction over contiguous zone 10. Maldives may exercise within the contiguous zone the control necessary to prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within the territory of Maldives and its territorial sea and to punish the infringement of the above laws and regulations committed within the territory and the territorial sea of Maldives. Entry of foreign vessel into Maldives internal waters 11. No foreign vessel shall enter the internal waters of Maldives except with prior authorization from the Government of Maldives in accordance with the laws and regulations of Maldives. Em into archipelagic waters 12. Foreign vessels shall have the right of continuous and expeditious archipelagic passage in the sea lanes designated by the Government of Maldives from among international navigation channels. Such passage shall be in accordance with the regulations made under this Act. Entry into the territorial sea 13. (a) Save such vessels engaged in innocent passage compatible with internationallaws, no vessel shall tenter the territorial sea ofMaldives except in accordance with the laws and regulations ofMaldives. (a) No foreign warship or foreign nuclear-powered ship or ship carrying nuclear or other inherently dangerous or noxious substances shall enter the territorial sea ofMaldives for any purpose except with prior authorization of the Government of Maldives and in accordance with the laws and regulations of Maldives. Entry into the exclusive economic zone 14. No foreign vessel shall enter the exclusive economic zone ofMaldives except with prior authorization from the Government of Maldives in accordance with the laws of Maldives. Entry into and passa~ tbrou~h the airnpace 15. (a) Except in accordance with international standards and applicable regulations in force in Maldives, no foreign aircraft shall engage in any overflight across the airspace or via air routes above the land territory, internal waters, archipelagic waters and territorial sea ofMaldives. Except as provided above, no aircraft shall enter the foregoing airspace or air routes. (b) No foreign military aircraft shall engage in overflight across the airspace or air routes specified in subsection (a) of this section except with the authorization of the Government ofMaldives. Except as provided above, no military aircraft shall enter the foregoing airspace or air routes. Rights under international law 16. In addition to matters provided in thisAct, Maldives shall enjoy in relation to its maritime zones all other rights and jurisdiction States enjoy under international law as regards maritime zones. Regulations 17. The Government of Maldives has the jurisdiction to adopt regulations in respect of the maritime zones of Maldives and airspace thereabove. Defmitions 18. In this Act: (a) Archipelagicbaselineshall mean the lines established in accordance with the coordinates specified in Schedule 1 to this Act; (b) Nauticalmile shall mean the international nautical mile consisting of 1852 metres; (c) Warships shall mean naval vessels and vesselsofsuch description that could be engaged in warfare due to the weapons on board such vessels; (d) Militaryaircraftshall mean air force aeroplanes of such description that could be engaged in warfare due to the weapons on board such planes. 19. Law No. 30/76 (Law relating to the exclusive economic zone ofMaldives) and Law No. 32/76 (Law relating to the navigation and passage by foreign ships and aircraft through the airspace, territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone of the Republic ofMaldives) shall be repealed upon this Act taking effect. SCHEDULE 1 Archipelagic base points of Maldives Serial No. Point code Latitude Longitude 1. Bl 72° 47' 45" E 07° 03' 54"N 2. B2 72°48' 07" E 07° 04' 35" N 3. B3 72° 48' 21" E 07° 04' 47" N 4. B4 72° 50' 34" E 07° OS' 44"N 5. B5 72° 53' 50" E 07° 06' 35" N 6. B6 72° 54' 13" E 07° 06'35" N 7. B7 73° 12' 46" E 06° 58'07"N 8. B8 73° 13' 14" E 06° 57' 37"N 9. B9 73° 13' 53" E 06° 55' 31" N 10. BI0 73° 38' 20" E 05° 23'20"N 11. Bll 73° 39' 31" E 05° 22' 05"N 12. B12 73° 43' 21" E 04° 27'28"N 13. B13 73° 46' 13" E 03° 27' 27" N 14. B14 73° 35' 10" E 02° 08'04" N ~" 15. B15 73° 35' 18" E 00° 25' 5I"N 16. B16 73°26'37" E 00° 18' 25" N 17. B17 73° 13' 07" E 00° 39'45" S 18. B18 73° 11' 12" E 00° 41' 30" S f-. 19. B19 73° 10'02" E 00° 42'22" S 20. B20 73° 09' 08" E 00° 42'24" S f 21. B21 73° 08' 40" E 00° 42' 11" S 22. B22 73° 07' 30" E 00° 41' 13" S 23. B23 73° 06' 52" E 00° 40' 23" S 24. B24 73° 06' 23" E 00° 39' 18" S 25. B25 73° 04' 33" E 00° 35' 33" S 26. B26 73° 00' 08" E 00° 23' 55" N 27. B27 73° 59' 09" E 00° 29'21" N 28. B28 72° 59' 38" E 00° 32'22" N-, 29. B29 72° 53' 05" E 02° 25' 09"N 30. B30 72° 49' 14" E 02°47' 50" N 31. B31 72°41'49" E 03° 37' 38"N 32. B32 72°41'49" E 03° 47' 09" N f 33. B33 72°42' 03" E 03° 52' 15" N 34. B34 72° 42' 11" E 04° 01' 50" N I 35. B35 72° 42' 36" E 04° 05' B"N 36. B36 72°44' 14" E 04° 13'46"N 37. B37 72° 33' 19" E 06° 14' 12" N L...-,,, Minicoy 1 land 74' NineDegree Channel Eight egree Channel . Laccadive .: Islands 8' Arabi n Sea MakunuduAtoll mmaduluAtoll NorthMalosmadulu Atoll SouthMa/osmadulu Atoll .", Horsburgh' Atoll 4' MALDIVES 4' o n-MalntIi5fl KolumaduluAtoll One anda Half Degree Channel Archipelagic baselines illustrate on this maparebased onthelistofgeo aphical coordinates ascontained in Sc dule1of Maritime ZonesofMaldives, AbtNo. 6/96. I 70' Suvadiva Atoll Addu Atoll 74' O' MALDIVES Maritime Claims Legend Archipelagic baselines ~Mm:.I(F DatMm:WGsu St»kalt/MEfIltllOr: J: 7()()(JotJ(} ~==~=========" fap Index:MDV-BUL-I "Division forOceanAffairs and the Lawof the Sea,OfficeofLegal Affairs.UnitedNations, 1999