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Malaysia-Indonesia maritime treaty: One step forward, never a step back
Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur have been able to resolve overlapping maritime disputes without going to third-party arbitration or to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo takes a selfie with people welcoming him to Kuala Lumpur on June 7, 2023. (Presidential Secretariat/Muchlis Jr.)
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fter almost two decades of negotiations, Indonesia and Malaysia have finally reached an agreement on maritime delimitation in the southern portion of the Strait of Malacca toward the Singapore Strait and the territorial sea boundary in the Sulawesi Sea.
This deal was part of a number of agreements signed by the two countries during President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's visit to Malaysia on June 8.
Is this a step forward for both nations in finalizing their unresolved maritime boundaries since achieving independence?
Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS) clearly states that a coastal state may claim up to 12 nautical miles (approximately 22 kilometers) of territorial sea from the baseline of the coastal state.
The coastal state has absolute sovereignty over its territorial sea area which consists of both the seabed and the marine waters within that specified zone.
Beyond this 12-nautical miles limit, a coastal state could no longer exert sovereignty but it could however, exercise sovereign rights up to 200 nautical miles (approximately 370 km) of “exclusive economic zone” (EEZ), otherwise known as the “fishing zone”.
Within the EEZ, a coastal state possesses sovereign rights for exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources of the waters and of the seabed. However, when it comes to the resources of the seabed, the exploration and exploitation shall be in accordance with another regime called the “continental shelf”, usually rich in minerals and petroleum deposits. According to LOSC, a coastal state’s entitlement to the continental shelf can go beyond 200 nautical miles measured from its baseline.
