The Gulf crisis highlights the need for a stronger rules-based maritime order, with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) at its core. For a maritime power like the United States, which follows many UNCLOS principles but has never ratified the convention, the debate carries significance far beyond its own shores

US Coast Guard Day, observed on August 4, comes at a time when the world’s attention is again focused on the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Rising tensions in the region have once again shown how closely maritime security is connected with energy, trade and global peace.

The US Coast Guard has a long history of protecting American waters, rescuing people at sea, preventing smuggling and helping ships in distress. Its role also reflects a larger reality of the modern world: the oceans are too important to be governed solely by naval power. They need common rules accepted by countries.

The most important international framework for this purpose is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS. It is widely regarded as the basic legal framework for the world’s oceans. It covers navigation, territorial waters, maritime boundaries, fishing, seabed resources, marine pollution and the rights of coastal countries.

The United States signed UNCLOS in 1982 but has not ratified it. The US Senate has never approved the Convention. American objections have included the original provisions dealing with deep-seabed mining, international dispute settlement, military activities at sea and concerns about national sovereignty. The deep-seabed........

© The Pioneer