Maritime areas and geopolitics

« Maritime areas and geopolitics Introduction → Seas and oceans represent 70,8% of the Earth surface → Large diversity of spaces, resources and legal status - High seas make up over ⅔ of the ocean surface → The maritimisation of economics and the growth of international trade give the seas and oceans a fundamental role both for the supply of resources (fishery, energy, biochemical…) and for the movement of people and material or immaterial exchanges in the global economy. → It leads to geopolitical issues of regulation/protection/conflict United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS): signed in Montego Bay, Jamaïca in 1982.

It defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world’s oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources Internal waters: include waters on the side of the baseline of a nation's territorial waters that is facing toward the land Territorial sea: is a belt of coastal waters extending at most 12 nautical miles (22 km) from the baseline (usually the mean low-water mark) of a coastal state.

The territorial sea is regarded as the sovereign territory of the state, although foreign ships (military and civilian) are allowed innocent passage through it, or transit passage for straits; this sovereignty also extends to the airspace over and seabed below.

Adjustment of these boundaries is called, in international law, maritime delimitation. Contiguous zone: is a band of water extending farther from the outer edge of the territorial sea to up to 24 nautical miles (44.4 km) from the baseline, within which a state can exert limited control for the purpose of preventing or punishing "infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory. Exclusive economic zone: extends from the baseline to a maximum of 200 nautical miles (370.4 km), thus it includes the contiguous zone.

A coastal nation has control of all economic resources within its exclusive economic zone, including fishing, mining, oil exploration, and any pollution of those resources.

However, it cannot prohibit passage or loitering above, on, or under the surface of the sea. Continental shelf: The continental shelf of a coastal nation extends out to the outer edge of the continental margin. Coastal states have the right of exploration and exploitation of the seabed and the natural resources that lie on or beneath it, however other states may lay cables and pipelines if they are authorised by the coastal state.

The outer limit of a country's continental shelf shall not stretch beyond 350 nautical miles (650 km) of the baseline. High seas or international waters: all parts of the sea that are not included in the territorial sea or EEZ waters of a State ★ How does globalisation affect the use and regulation of maritime areas around the world ? I. The maritimisation of the global economy A.

The importance of maritime areas for global trade → In 2019, maritime trade = - 85% of the global tonnage of freight - 70% of its global value → Tonnage of shipping x4 since 1990 (12 billion tons in 2019) → Maritimisation of the economy for cost reasons → Revolution of shipping since the 1950s thanks to innovation (containers in 1956) and geopolitical constraints (closure of the Suez canal in 1956 and 1967). - Specialisation and increase of the size of ships has reduced costs: cheaper to ship a container by sea from Shanghai to Marseille than by road from Marseille to Avignon → Reduction of travel and unloading times: - Shanghai - Hamburg in 36 days with CMA-CGM - Shanghai - Los Angeles in 12 days with Maersk ★ Compare and contrast the location and importance of sea routes for container and oil shipping see the first handout Containers → Manufacturing workshops of Eastern Asia → Consuming areas mainly in North America and Europe → Size of containerships designed to be able to cross the main canals (Suez and Panama) Oil → For oil: cost of shipping = 6 to 7% of the final cost → Unit: barrel ( 1 barrel = 159 L) → Main exporters in the Middle - East → Main importers in Asia and Europe → Part of the delivery is done by pipeline onland → The US and Canada are oil producers → Cape of Good Hope route: the VLCC and ULCC (= very large and ultra large crude oil carrier) are too heavy to go through the Suez canal → The main sea routes go through key chokepoints: - Straits: Hormuz, Malacca, Bab el Mandeb, Gibraltar, the Channel (most used sea route) - Canals: Suez, Panama → 2016: - Panama Canal expanded - 60M people worked in fishing or aquaculture (FAO) see the first handout: → The routes connect a network of harbours around the world → China = 40% of the volume of containers moved around the world → Ports offer different range of services: loading, unloading, stocking, bunkering → Singapore’s maritime development strategy: - 1960s: oil refining harbour - Diversification since the 1970s: container shipping hub + new services: bunkering, flag Maritime trade has become a global business involving a large variety of actors: → Private companies: - Ship owners: CMA-CGM - Ship builders: Hyundai, STX, Samsung, Daewoo… - Port owners → States: - National infrastructures - International investment (Road and Belt initiative) - Regulation through flag of ships (flags of convenience: Malta, Panama, Mongolia, Gibraltar, Registre international français) - Control of national waters B.

A maritime trade under transition Some routes are developing: → South-south routes: - New outlets or new productive spaces opening up (cf 1° syllabus) - New or more effective port infrastructures needed: Lamu or Mombasa (Kenya), Takoradi (Ghana) → Arctic routes: ↓ see the second handout ★ The benefits of the emergence of new maritime routes in the Arctic far outweigh the constraints.

Discuss the validity of this view. Introduction: context = climate change → melting of the Arctic ocean ice cap / opening of new potential sea routes: North West passage, North East passage → These sea routes could connect faster and cheaper the main centres of the global economy. However, added costs due to weather, geopolitical/environmental constraints might outweigh the benefits. We will discuss… Benefits Constraints → Arctic sea routes would reduce shipping distance and time: EXAMPLES: Shanghai - Hamburg 6000km shorter.... »