ABSTRACT
For legal purposes the sea (which covers more than 70 per cent of the surface of the globe) has traditionally been divided into three different zones, each of which is subject to different rules.1 Moving outwards from land, these zones are (1) internal waters, (2) territorial sea, and (3) high seas. In recent years the position has been complicated by the tendency of coastal states to claim limited rights over areas of the high seas adjacent to their territorial sea (contiguous zones, exclusive fishery zones, exclusive economic zones and the continental shelf).
