Channel Ferries

(asked on 8th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of Article (a) 18 and (b) 19 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on passenger ferry services operated between Dover and Calais.


Answered by
Wendy Morton Portrait
Wendy Morton
This question was answered on 14th June 2021

We have made no such assessment of cross channel passenger ferry services.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) allows a coastal State to claim a territorial sea of up to 12 nautical miles.

UNCLOS Part II, Section 3 sets out the rules on "Innocent passage in the Territorial Sea". Articles 18 and 19 define the "Meaning of passage" and "Meaning of innocent passage". In the territorial sea, all ships enjoy the right of innocent passage (defined in the Convention as passage, which is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State).

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