A Maritime Exclusion Zone (MEZ) is a military exclusion zone at sea. The concept is not the subject of an explicit

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pe ...

, and there has been variation in naming including: "naval exclusion zone", "maritime security zone", "blockade zone", "maritime operational zone", "area subject to long distance blockade" and "area dangerous to shipping". During armed conflicts since the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

in 1904, belligerents have sometimes established maritime zones to control or prohibit access of foreign ships and aircraft, with varying levels of restriction and risk of attack on merchant vessels. A MEZ is different to a

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are leg ...

in that enforcing naval forces are not deployed close in to a port but over an extended area, and that offending vessels are generally subject to attack rather than confiscation. The development of the MEZ concept reflects the technological changes enabling longer ranges for detection systems and weapons.

The modern concept

A more modern and consistent approach has been adopted since the

San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea was adopted in June 1994 by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law after a series of round table discussions held between 1988 and 1994 by diplomats and naval and ...

was published in 1994, which defined blockade zones in articles 105 to 108. MEZs warn vessels and aircraft to avoid the area, to reduce the risk that neutral or non-combatant vessels will be mistakenly targeted. However merchant ships, neutral or enemy, do not automatically become a lawful target by being in a MEZ; they must be evaluated as legitimate military objectives before being targeted. Many military Law of Sea manuals, including those of the Australian, Canadian, German and United Kingdom navies, set out regulations for the operation of MEZs, based on the internationally legally recognized

San Remo Manual The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea was adopted in June 1994 by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law after a series of round table discussions held between 1988 and 1994 by diplomats and naval and ...

. The Australian manual notes that "there is no specific international law treaty provision referring to aritime Exclusion Zones however, their use has acquired a degree of validity under customary international law". Neutral vessels must be given safe passage through a MEZ if it significantly impedes safe access to neutral ports, although they may be searched in transit by a belligerent. Sometimes a "blue safe maritime corridor" through a MEZ is defined and published to regulate such safe access.

References

Blockades Law of the sea {{mil-stub

The modern concept

See also

References