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22-745: Bellot Strait is a strait in Nunavut that separates Somerset Island to its north from the Murchison Promontory of Boothia Peninsula to its south, which is the northernmost part of the mainland of the Americas . The two-kilometre-wide (1.2 mi) and 25-kilometre-long (16 mi) strait connects the Gulf of Boothia , Prince Regent Inlet , and Brentford Bay to its east with Peel Sound and Franklin Strait to its west. The north side of

44-464: A distinction was made between the wartime and peacetime navigation. A major effort on codification of the legal regime for the straits was made by the Institut de Droit International (IDI) between 1894 and 1912. 1894, in particular, saw the proclamation of the innocent passage principle in the traits where there is no high seas lanes due to overlapping territorial waters. Some work was also done by

66-700: A part of high seas or an exclusive economic zone with the territorial sea of a coastal nation ( Straits of Tiran , Strait of Juan de Fuca , Strait of Baltiysk ) and (2) in straits formed by an island of a state bordering the strait and its mainland if there exists seaward of the island a route through the high seas or through an exclusive economic zone of similar convenience with respect to navigational and hydrographical characteristics ( Strait of Messina , Pentland Firth ). There may be no suspension of innocent passage through such straits. [REDACTED] Media related to Straits at Wikimedia Commons Straits used for international navigation An international strait

88-606: Is a narrow natural waterway connecting two parts of the high seas or exclusive economic zones , used for international navigation. Per the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a transit passage regime prevails in such straits for both ships and aircraft with few exceptions, even when the territorial waters of bordering country or countries overlap. Worldwide, more than 200 straits might satisfy

110-562: Is sometimes differentiated with varying senses. In Scotland, firth or Kyle are also sometimes used as synonyms for strait. Many straits are economically important. Straits can be important shipping routes and wars have been fought for control of them. Numerous artificial channels, called canals , have been constructed to connect two oceans or seas over land, such as the Suez Canal . Although rivers and canals often provide passage between two large lakes, and these seem to suit

132-462: The 1930 Hague Conference on Codification . Overall, per the 1992 statement of the Office for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea , "the treatment of the question of straits [...] between 1894 and 1930 was unsatisfactory". The "now classic" book on international straits by Erik Brüel , "International Straits. A Treatise on International Law", was published in the 1947. The Corfu Channel case at

154-469: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1949 established the rules for the innocent passage through a strait: Still, the incident that was considered in the case had shown the limits of innocent passage: the rules of this regime makes the warships participating in the freedom of navigation operation vulnerable in a case of encounter with the navy of a coastal state. Convention on

176-674: The International Law Association (ILA) between 1893 and 1910 and Inter-parliamentary Union between 1910 and 1915. Like the IDI's declarations, these efforts were stopped by the First World War , no international agreements followed, the discussion at the Second Peace Conference (1907) only made it clear that the international straits require their own regime. No agreement was also reached at

198-457: The Roman law concept of right of way , many other 18th century thinkers supported the right of a coastal state to exclude foreign ships from its territorial waters. With the arrival of steamships in the 19th century, the ability to navigate along the shortest route became a significant economic factor, spurring development of special regimes for transit, similar to high seas. At the same time,

220-462: The Sound Dues that were collected for four hundred years ). De Vattel was the first to highlight the difference between the straits that "serve as a mean of communication between two [high] seas" and the one without such function. The passage of ships through the former cannot be prohibited as long as it does not adversely affect the security of the coastal state. While Vattel based his ideas on

242-501: The straits used for international navigation . Some experts suggest a broader definition of the "international strait". In particular, the following list is proposed: The interest in the rights of navigation through straits dates as far back as the Peloponnesian War ( c. 422 BC ). Grotius early in the 17th century recognized the right of the owner of the shore to appropriate the water expanses that can be seen from

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264-562: The French naval officer Joseph René Bellot , who reached it by dogsled from Batty Bay in 1852. This proved that Somerset was an island and that Prince Regent Inlet had a difficult westward exit. In 1858, Francis Leopold McClintock tried to pass the strait but had to abandon the attempt. The strait was first crossed from west to east by the Hudson's Bay Company ship Aklavik in 1937, piloted by Scotty Gall. Henry Larsen crossed it in 1942 on

286-663: The Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone , adopted in 1958 by the UNCLOS I , codified the work of the International Law Commission done since 1949. Regarding the straits, the convention introduced a non-suspendable innocent passage for the international straits as the straits connecting high seas to a territorial sea of a foreign state. Otherwise, the international straits were governed by

308-583: The converse of isthmuses . That is, while a strait lies between two land masses and connects two large areas of ocean, an isthmus lies between two areas of ocean and connects two large land masses. Some straits have the potential to generate significant tidal power using tidal stream turbines . Tides are more predictable than wave power or wind power . The Pentland Firth (a strait) may be capable of generating 10  GW . Cook Strait in New Zealand may be capable of generating 5.6 GW even though

330-588: The criteria of an international strait. Notable international straits include the Bosporus and Dardanelles , Strait of Magellan , Strait of Gibraltar , Strait of Dover , Danish straits and the Strait of Hormuz . The term is defined in articles 37 and 38 of the UNCLOS III . The convention does not use the words "international strait" to prevent a confusion with international waters , describing instead

352-577: The first west-east transit of the Northwest Passage . The Fort Ross trading post on the northern shore was established in 1937, and lasted for 11 years. However, the building has been refurbished and strengthened, and acts as a refuge for researchers and crews of small boats passing through. [REDACTED] Media related to Bellot Strait at Wikimedia Commons Strait The terms channel , pass , or passage can be synonymous and used interchangeably with strait , although each

374-475: The formal definition of strait, they are not usually referred to as such. Rivers and often canals, generally have a directional flow tied to changes in elevation, whereas straits often are free flowing in either direction or switch direction, maintaining the same elevation. The term strait is typically reserved for much larger, wider features of the marine environment. There are exceptions, with straits being called canals; Pearse Canal , for example. Straits are

396-568: The international straits. Although during the planning of the conference it was declared that it will concentrate on exploitation of the sea beds , in practice it was to large extent driven by the desire of "the United States and the Soviet Union [...] to protect their strategic interests in transiting the oceans, particularly international straits". As a result of the political compromise, UNCLOS III adopted its "crowning achievement",

418-457: The same innocent passage provisions as other territorial waters. Major changes to the strait passage were made by UNCLOS III (1982) that was driven both by objective factors (a dramatic increase in sea and air traffic, concerns about pollution and accidents in straits, and the general desire of coastal states to increase the territorial waters to 12 miles) and the common interest of the United States and USSR in opening sea and air passage through

440-499: The shore, and an obligation of the owner to allow innocent (unarmed) navigation through these waters. Grotius also suggested the right for the owner to collect fees for such passage. The latter practice, supported by Puffendorf and later by de Vattel , persisted until the mid-19th century, when Denmark dropped the levies for the passage of Danish belts and sunds (cf. the Copenhagen Convention of 1857 abolishing

462-485: The strait rises steeply to approximately 450 metres (1,480 ft), and the south shore to approximately 750 metres (2,460 ft). The current in the strait can run at up to 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) and often changes its direction. It is also often filled with small icebergs which pose a danger to ships in the strait. The first Europeans to see the strait were the Canadian explorer William Kennedy and

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484-477: The total energy available in the flow is 15 GW. Straits used for international navigation through the territorial sea between one part of the high seas or an exclusive economic zone and another part of the high seas or an exclusive economic zone are subject to the legal regime of transit passage ( Strait of Gibraltar , Dover Strait , Strait of Hormuz ). The regime of innocent passage applies in straits used for international navigation (1) that connect

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