BREACH OF TERRITORIAL WATERS IN BLACK SEA

• In a recent event, Russia alleged that the British warship had breached its territorial waters in Black Sea which Britain and most of the world say belong to Ukraine.
• Russia seized and annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and considers areas around its coast to be Russian waters.

Important points:

• The Black Sea, also known as the Euxine Sea, is one of the major water bodies and a famous inland sea of the world.
• This marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
• It is surrounded by the Pontic, Caucasus, and Crimean Mountains in the south, east and north respectively.
• The Turkish straits system – the Dardanelles, Bosporus and Marmara Sea – forms a transitional zone between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
• The Black Sea is also connected to the Sea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch.
• The bordering countries of Black Sea are: Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania.
• There is a significant absence of oxygen in the water.
• The Black Sea happens to be the largest water body with a meromictic basin, which means the movement of water between the lower and upper layers of the sea is a rare phenomenon to find anywhere in the world.
• The anoxic condition is also caused due to the presence of the process of Eutrophication in the sea.
• Anoxic waters are areas of sea water, fresh water, or groundwater that are depleted of dissolved oxygen and are a more severe condition of hypoxia.
• This condition is generally found in areas that have restricted water exchange.

International Rules of Passage through Sea:

Under international law of the sea (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982), innocent passage permits a vessel to pass through another state’s territorial waters so long as this does not affect its security.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMC TIMES,MINT