right of innocent passage Continues to exist in undesignated waters and
there is no requirement to use a designated archipelagic sea lane (unless the ship or
aircraft1 wishes to enjoy rights of archipelagic sea lane passage).
13 IMO will need to ensure that there is a clear understanding of what
"adoption" means in the context of the relevant requirements of UNCLOS. It is
suggested that adoption by IMO is a process by which the international community, with the
archipelagic State, agree that the proposal is consistent with UNCLOS and that the users
and the archipelagic State accordingly accept their legal rights and duties under UNCLOS.
14 IMO adoption of an archipelagic sea lanes proposal must therefore
ensure that the proposal is consistent with UNCLOS.
15 To facilitate consideration of the process of adoption of
archipelagic sea lanes proposals, the Organization may also feel it necessary to consult
appropriate sources of legal expertise on the meaning of "adoption" and
associated issues.
Are new procedures required for adoption?
16 In the case of a standard ship routeing measure, the adoption
process commences when a State submits a routeing proposal to IMO for consideration. In
the first instance, the technical aspects will be considered by the Working Group on ships
routeing within the Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation.
17 Subject to its meeting the necessary technical and safety criteria
and endorsement by the Sub-Committee, the proposal would be recommended to the Maritime
Safety Committee for adoption. Once adopted, the routeing measure would come into effect
after a period of not less than six months. Under certain circumstances, aspects of the
routeing proposal may be referred to other IMO committees for consideration.
18 In the case of archipelagic sea lanes, additional processes may need
to be established to take into account the specific requirements of Article 53 of UNCLOS,
in particular, the requirement that sea lanes proposals provide for:
・ continuous, expeditious and unobstructed passage in the normal
mode;
・ designation of all normal passage routes;
・ designation of all normal navigation channels2 and
・ a requirement that ships and aircraft shall not deviate more than
25 miles to either side of axis lines and shall not navigate closer to the coast than 10%
of the distance between the nearest points on islands bordering the sea lane.
19 In addition to consideration by the MSC of the safety aspects of a
sea lanes proposal, which would utilize existing ships routeing procedures, there may be a
specific role for:
1 Aircraft do not have a right of innocent passage.
2 Duplication of routes of similar convenience between the same
entry/exit points is not necessary.
