UNCLOS and the Protection of Innocent and Transit Passage in Maritime Chokepoints

Maritime straits – narrow waterways connecting two seas or other large bodies of water – play a vital role in maritime transit and in reducing the time of shipping. So called “chokepoints” particularly sensitive straits along some of the most important navigations routes pose unique challenges as they can become focal points for geographic, commercial, and political interests. Despite the guidelines set out by the 1982 United Nation’s Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), States can weaponize maritime chokepoints to advance political and strategic goals. Additionally, non-state actors are continuing to disrupt and threaten access and passage through straits and waterways. To strenghten UNCLOS' ability to govern global maritime transit, the extent of its challenges as well as tools to address them need to be analyzed. The Maritime Policy & Strategy Research center and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Israel are contributing to this analysis with a collection of insights from leading academic and legal scholars regarding the challenges to UNCLOS in the context of passage through chokepoints connecting the Arab Gulf with the Mediterranean Sea.