On 29 April 1958, in Geneva, the first UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS I) adopts the Convention on the Continental Shelf, opened for signature the same day.

The text, one of four Geneva 1958 instruments, codifies the coastal state’s rights over the seabed and subsoil of the adjacent shelf, beyond the territorial sea, to a depth of 200 metres or to where the depth admits exploitation of natural resources.

Articles regulate the superjacent waters and airspace, submarine cables and pipelines, navigation, fishing, scientific research, delimitation and tunnelling. Article 5 limits what the state may not do on the shelf.

Entry into force: 10 June 1964. Until superseded by UNCLOS III (1982), 58 states were parties. The “exploitability” definition was criticised as technology advanced.

The Convention followed Truman’s 1945 proclamation on US shelf resources and the wave of national claims of 12 or 200 nautical miles.

The text is on Wikisource and legal.un.org. UNCLOS 1982 redefines the shelf (to 200 nm or the geological formula) and largely renders the 1958 Convention obsolete.

The Convention on the Continental Shelf of 29 April 1958 remains the first multilateral treaty fixing rights over resources of the adjacent seabed.

Image: Geneva / ocean; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Convention on the Continental Shelf. Treaty text: Convention on the Continental Shelf (UN).