The document discusses the territorial sea (TS) and its history. It defines TS as extending up to 12 nautical miles from a coastal state's baseline under UNCLOS. Conflicts can arise when states claim bodies of water as internal waters beyond the 12 nm limit. The document specifically examines conflicts in the Gulf of Sidra, where Libya claims the entire gulf but the US recognizes only Libya's 12 nm TS, leading to military incidents in 1981 and 1989 to assert freedom of navigation rights.

1. By
Muhammad Shafiq Ridzuan Bin Mohd Fadzil 210139
Muhammad Nur Iman Bin Khairuddin 210218
Muhammad Iqbal Bin Ma Hussin 210229

2.  Introduction
 What is TS?
 How TS is determined
 Function of TS
 History Development of Territorial Sea
 Before 15th Century
 15th Century
 17th Century
 Conflict involves The Territorial Sea
 The Gulf of Sidra
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4. • A Territorial Sea is defined by the 1982 UNCLOS III is a
belt of coastal waters extending at most 12 nautical miles
from the baseline of a coastal state.
• The territorial sea is regarded as the sovereign territory
of the state, although foreign ships are allowed to
through at innocent passage this sovereignty also
extends to the airspace over and seabed below.
• The term "territorial waters" is also sometimes used
informally to describe any area of water over which a
state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the
contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and
potentially the continental shelf. 4

5. Schematic map of maritime zones. 5

7. Maritime controversies involve two
dimensions:
(a) territorial sovereignty, which are a legacy of
history
(b) relevant jurisdictional rights and interests in
maritime boundaries, which are mainly due to
differing interpretations of the law of the sea.
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9.  From Roman Empire to 15th
Century
 No consensus or uniform practice
 Claims were ill-defined and
reasons not clear.
 A period where “Might is right”
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10.  Extensive claims to oceans were abandoned
 States claim to waters contiguous to their
coasts.
 The term “territorial sea” emerged as a result
of Alberico Gentili works “De Jure Belli” in
1598 that proposed that a sovereign could
treat waters adjacent to his state in the same
way he treated his land territory.
 Reason; control over piracy and acts that
threatens the security of a state i.e to
preserve good order, peace of the state.
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11.  The content, purpose and breadth of TS
becoming more clearly defined.
 Cornelius Van Bynkershoek in his work
“De Dominio Maris” 1702…proposed
the TS breadth be 3 nm based on the
canon-shot range.
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12.  Agreement of TS breadth by 1973:
 3 nm = 31 states
 4 -10 nm = 9 states
 12 nm = 70 states
 12-200 nm = 12 states
 200 nm = 15 states
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13.  3 nm = 20 states
 4 -10 nm = 16 states
 12 nm = 46 states
 12-200 nm = 12 states
 200 nm = 15 states
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14.  12 nm = 79 states
 Thus by UNCLOS 1980 – TS
accepted is 12 nm.
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15.  Conflicts still occur whenever a coastal nation
claims an entire gulf as its territorial waters
while other nations only recognize the more
restrictive definitions of the UN convention.
 Two recent conflicts occurred in the Gulf of
Sidra where Libya has claimed the entire gulf
as its territorial waters and the U.S. has twice
enforced freedom of navigation rights, in the
1981 and 1989 Gulf of Sidra incidents
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16.  The Gulf of Sidra has been a major centre for
tuna fishing in the Mediterranean for centuries.
It gives its name to the city of Sirte situated on
its western side.
 The gulf measures 439 km from the
promontory of Boreum on the East side to the
promontory of Cephalae on the West. The
greatest extension of the gulf inland is 180 km
land inward and occupies an area of 22,000
square miles.
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17. Map of Libya
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18. Satellite image of the Gulf of Sirte
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19.  -After the coup d'état which brought
Muammar Gaddafi to power in 1969, there
have been a number of international incidents
concerning territorial claims of the Gaddafi
regime over the waters of the Gulf of Sidra
 -In 1973, Gaddafi claimed much of the Gulf of
Sidra to be within Libyan internal waters by
drawing a straight line at 32 degrees, 30
minutes north between a point near Benghazi
and the western headland of the gulf at Misrata
with an exclusive 62 nautical miles fishing
zone.
 -Gaddafi declared it The Line of Death, the
crossing of which would invite a military
response.
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20.  -The United States claimed its rights to conduct
naval operations in international waters, a
standard of 12-mile (19 km) territorial limit
from a country's shore.
 -Gaddafi claimed it to be a territorial sea, not
just a coastal area. In response the United
States authorized Naval exercises in the Gulf of
Sidra to conduct Freedom of Navigation (FON)
operations.
 -On March 21, 1973, Libyan fighter planes
intercepted and fired on a U.S. Air Force C-130
conducting signals intelligence off the Libyan
coast.
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21.  -In August 1981, during the United States Sixth
Fleet Freedom of Navigation exercises, two
Libyan Su-22 Fitter fighter-bombers were
intercepted by two F-14 Tomcat fighters from
the aircraft carrier Nimitz.
 -During the engagement, one of the American
planes was targeted by an air-to-air Atoll
missile.
 -In 1989, in another Gulf of Sidra incident, two
Libyan MiG-23 Flogger Es aircraft were shot
down when it was believed they were about to
attack the U.S. fighters that were in the area
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