Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T08:57:05.822Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Non-Soviet shipping in the Northeast Passage, and the legal status of Proliv Vil'kitskogo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Erik Franckx
Erik Franckx
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of the Law of the United Nations and the Specialized Agencies, Free, University of Brussels, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

When the United States dispatched icebreakers to Proliv Vil'kitskogo [Vil'kitskii Strait] in 1967, the Soviet Union did not allow the vessels to accomplish the passage, basing their refusal on a requirement, provided for in municipal legislation, that warships seek prior authorization. During the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1973–82) the USSR reversed this policy: innocent passage was granted in principle to merchant and war vessels alike. This article analyzes whether this fundamental policy change, together with some other novelties in Soviet legislation, substantially influenced the regime applicable to Vil'kitskii Strait. Theoretical considerations would apparently answer this question positively. Actual state practice, though still open to conjecture, points rather in the opposite direction.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 24 , Issue 151 , October 1988 , pp. 269 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Armstrong, T. E. 1949. The voyage of the Komet along the Northern Sea Route, 1940. Polar Record 5: 291–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Armstrong, T. E. 1966. La route maritime du nord en 1964. Inter-Nord 8: 215–18.Google Scholar
Armstrong, T. E. 1967. La route maritime du nord en 1965. Inter-Nord 9: 203–06.Google Scholar
Armstrong, T. E. 1968. The Northern Sea Route in 1966. Inter-Nord 10: 200–03.Google Scholar
Armstrong, T. E. 1970. The Northern Sea Route in 1967. Inter-Nord 11: 123–24.Google Scholar
Armstrong, T. E. 1972. The Northern Sea Route 1968–70. Inter-Nord 12: 118–20.Google Scholar
Armstrong, T. E. 1986. The Northern Sea Route, 1985. Polar Record 23: 183–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyd, S. 1984. The legal status of Arctic sea ice: a comparative study and proposal. Canadian Year Book of International Law 22: 98, 103–11 (Canada) and 111–15 (Soviet Union).Google Scholar
Breitfuss, L. 1928. Die territorials Sektoreneinteilung der Arktis im Zusammenhang mit dem zu erwartenden transarktischen Luftverkehr [The territorial division of the Arctic in sectors as related to expected transarctic air navigation]. Petermanns Geographischen Mitteilungen, Heft 1/2: 23–28.Google Scholar
Bryant, L. 1985. The Northwest Passage and Canadian Arctic claims. Fram: the journal of polar studies 2: 455–62.Google Scholar
Butler, W. 1965. Soviet concepts of innocent passage. Harvard International Law Journal 7: 113–30.Google Scholar
Butler, W. 1971a. The Soviet Union and the Law of the Sea. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Butler, W. 1971b. Soviet Arctic and the Northeast Passage. The Nautilus Papers 2: 1–8.Google Scholar
Butler, W. 1971c. New Soviet legislation on straight base lines. International and Comparative Law Quarterly 20: 750–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, W. 1972. Soviet maritime jurisdiction in the Arctic. Polar Record 16: 418–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, W. 1978. Northeast Arctic Passage. Alphenaan den Rijn, Sijthoff and Noordhoff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, W. 1983. Basic documents of the Soviet legal system. New York, Oceania Publications.Google Scholar
Butler, W. 1987. Innocent passage and the 1982 Convention: the influence of Soviet law and policy. American Journal of International Law 81: 331–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franckx, E. 1987. The USSR position on the innocent passage of warships through foreign territorial waters. Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce 18: 33–65.Google Scholar
Glazunov, G. 1985. Pravovoi rezhim severnogo morskogo puti [The legal regime of the Northern Sea Route]. In: Mezhdunarodnoe morskoe pravo—spravochnik [International law of the sea—reference book] 232–34.Google Scholar
Gorshkov, S. (editor). 1980. Arkticheskii Okean [Arctic Ocean]. Atlas of the oceans. Moscow, Ministry of Defence of the USSR. 12–13.Google Scholar
Grose, P. 1967. US halts Arctic expedition as Soviet bars ships. Polar Times 12 1967: 14.Google Scholar
Ioffe, O. 1985. Soviet law and Soviet reality. Dordrecht, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kwiatkowska, B. 1986. New Soviet legislation on the 200 Mile Economic Zone. Netherlands International Law Review 33: 26–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lakhtin, V. 1928. Prava na severnye poliarnye prostranstva [Rights over the arctic regions]. Moscow, Litizdat Narodnogo Komissariata po Inostrannym Delam.Google Scholar
Lamson, C. 1987. Arctic shipping, marine safety and environmental protection. Marine Policy 11: 3–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyon, W. 1963. The submarine and the Arctic Ocean. Polar Record 11: 699–705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyon, W. 1984. The navigation of Arctic polar submarines. Journal of Navigation 37: 155–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaren, A. 1985. The evolution and potential of the arctic submarine. Oceans 85: 448–53.Google Scholar
Molde, J. 1982. The status of ice in international law. Nordisk Tidsskrift for International Ref 51: 164–78.Google Scholar
Molodtsov, S. 1982. Mezhdunarodno-pravovoe razgranichenie prostranstv Mirovogo okeana [International legal delimitation of areas of the world ocean]. In Mezhdunarodnaia bezopasnost'i Mirovoi okean [International security and the world ocean]. Moscow, Nauka.Google Scholar
Petrow, R. 1968. Across the top of Russia. London, Hodder and Stoughton.Google Scholar
Pharand, D. 1968a. Soviet Union warns United States against use of Northeast Passage. American Journal of International Law 62: 927–35.Google Scholar
Pharand, D. 1968b. Innocent passage in the Arctic. Canadian Year Book of International Law 6: 3–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pharand, D. 1973. The law of the sea of the Arctic, with special reference to Canada. Ottawa, University of Ottawa Press.Google Scholar
Pharand, D. 1983. Canada's Arctic jurisdiction in international law. Dalhousie Law Journal 7: 742–99.Google Scholar
Pharand, D. 1984. The legal regime of the Arctic: some outstanding issues. International Journal 39: 315–42.Google Scholar
Polar Record. 1963. The voyage of USCGC Northwind in the Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi seas. Polar Record 12: 731–33.Google Scholar
Polar Record. 1964. The Northern Sea Route 1963. Polar Record 12: 179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polar Record. 1966. United States activities in waters north of the USSR, 1962 to 1965. Polar Record 13: 305–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polar Times 1967. Bamberger, W., head of marine inspection here; master of Arctic and Antarctic; Coast Guard Commander has tried to circumnavigate both areas in icebreaker. Polar Times 12 1967: 13.Google Scholar
Prescott, J. 1985. The maritime boundaries of the world. London, Methuen.Google Scholar
Schmid, K. 1984. Zum neuen Grenzgesetz der UdSSR. [On the new law on the state boundary of the USSR] Berichte des Bundesinstituts für ostwissenschaftliche und internationale Studien 18.Google Scholar
Schytt, V. 1982. Ymer-80: a Swedish expedition to the Arctic Ocean. Geographical Journal 149: 22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shabad, T. 1986. Arctic shipping operations. Polar Geography and Geology 10: 166–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, C. 1971. A comparison of Soviet and American drifting ice stations. Polar Record 15: 877–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Synhorst, E. 1973. Soviet strategic interests in the maritime Arctic. US Naval Institute Proceedings 99 (843): 88–111.Google Scholar
US Department of State. 1967. US Department of State Bulletin 1473: 302.Google Scholar
United Nations. 1986. United Nations, Law of the Sea: Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc 19/41/742 (28 10).Google Scholar
United Nations. 1982. The Law of the Sea: United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. UN Sales Publication E.83.V.5.Google Scholar
Vyshnepolskiy, S. 1952. K probleme pravogo rezhima arkticheskii oblasti [The question of the legal regime of the Arctic region]. Sovetskoie Gosudarstvo i Pravo 36, 38–45. [6]Google Scholar
Wells, R. 1966. Surveying the Eurasian Arctic. US Naval Institute Proceedings 92 (764): 79–85.Google Scholar
Wells, R. 1968. The icy niet. US Naval Institute Proceedings 94 (278): 73–79.Google Scholar