The Government of National Unity (GNU) has announced plans to establish a new maritime zone under the authority of the Libyan state.
The head of the Land and Maritime Boundaries Committee at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Al-Harari, announced during the government meeting that the decision extends the maritime borders from 12 to 24 nautical miles. The declared maritime zone along the coast, which is known as the contiguous zone, will not exceed 24 nautical miles from the baselines from which the width of the territorial sea is measured.
Al-Harari stated that Article 33 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 gives the concerned state the right to declare this contiguous zone, stressing that there is no problem in this regard since these borders do not affect other countries.
Libya is yet to accede to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982.
