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UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION
ON THE LAW OF THE SEA
PART IV
ARCHIPELAGIC STATES
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Article 53
RIGHT OF ARCHIPELAGIC SEA LANES PASSAGE
- An archipelagic State may designate sea lanes and air routes thereabove,
suitable for the continuous and expeditious passage of foreign ships and
aircraft through or over its archipelagic waters and the adjacent
territorial sea.
- All ships and aircraft enjoy the right of archipelagic sea lanes passage
in such sea lanes and air routes.
- Archipelagic sea lanes passage means the exercise in accordance with this
Convention of the rights of navigation and over flight in the normal mode
solely for the purpose of continuous, expeditious and unobstructed transit
between one part of the high seas or an exclusive economic zone and another
part of the high seas or an exclusive economic zone.
- Such sea lanes and air routes shall traverse the archipelagic waters and
the adjacent territorial sea and shall include all normal passage routes
used as routes for international navigation or over flight through or over
archipelagic waters and, within such routes, so far as ships are concerned,
all normal navigational channels, provided that duplication of routes of
similar convenience between the same entry and exit points shall not be
necessary.
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- Such sea lanes and air routes shall be defined by a series of continuous
axis lines from the entry points of passage routes to the exit points. Ships
and aircraft in archipelagic sea lanes passage shall not deviate more than
25 nautical miles to either side of such axis lines during passage, provided
that such ships and aircraft shall not navigate closer to the coasts than 10
per cent of the distance between the nearest points on islands bordering the
sea lane.
- An archipelagic State which designates sea lanes under this article may
also prescribe traffic separation schemes for the safe passage of ships
through narrow channels in such sea lanes.
- An archipelagic State may, when circumstances require, after giving due
publicity thereto, substitute other sea lanes or traffic separation schemes
for any sea lanes or traffic separation schemes previously designated or
prescribed by it.
- Such sea lanes and traffic separation schemes shall conform to generally
accepted international regulations.
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- In designating or substituting sea lanes or prescribing or substituting
traffic separation schemes, an archipelagic State shall refer proposals to
the competent international organization with a view to their adoption. The
organization may adopt only such sea lanes and traffic separation schemes as
may be agreed with the archipelagic State, after which the archipelagic
State may designate, prescribe or substitute them.
- The archipelagic State shall clearly indicate the axis of the sea lanes
and the traffic separation schemes designated or prescribed by it on charts
to which due publicity shall be given.
- Ships in archipelagic sea lanes passage shall respect applicable sea
planes and traffic separation schemes established in accordance with this
article.
- If an archipelagic State does not designate sea lanes or air routes, the
right of archipelagic sea lanes passage may be exercised through the routes
normally used for internal navigation.
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