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Prof publishes 14th book on maritime law

Gerard J. Mangone, University Research Professor of International and Maritime Law

4:50 p.m., Jan. 18, 2005--Gerard J. Mangone, University Research Professor of International and Maritime Law in the College of Marine Studies, has published the 14th book in his edited series International Straits of the World. The latest volume, The Russian Arctic Straits, was written by Norwegian scholar R. Douglas Brubaker and is available from Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

The Russian Arctic Straits focuses on Russia's Arctic waters, which encompass five seas — the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea, the Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea, and the Chukchi Sea — and the several strategic straits that connect them. These waters are of great interest to countries that would benefit from a shorter commercial sea passage between western Europe and Asia.

The book reviews the legal issues that govern the regimes of ice-covered areas and passage rights and assesses the status of these practices in Russian Arctic waters. It updates the first volume in Mangone's series, The Northeast Arctic Passage, which was written by William E. Butler and published in 1978.

Since this first volume was published, the U.N. Law of the Sea Convention has been signed and ratified by over 140 countries. The Law of the Sea sets forth a comprehensive framework for governing ocean use. Within this framework, the law provides for the expedient passage of all vessels through designated corridors such as those straits that are used for international navigation.

However, the law also gives coastal states the right to adopt and enforce nondiscriminatory laws and regulations for the prevention, reduction, and control of marine pollution in ice-covered areas within the limits of the exclusive economic zone. The exclusive economic zone comprises those areas of the sea, seabed and subsoil that are within 200 miles of the shore.

"Passage through the Northern Sea Route has for decades been one of the most contentious legal issues in Russian-U.S. relations," Mangone said. "The United States does not want passage through these waters to be inhibited. However, Russia could use the special provisions of the U.N. Law of the Sea that pertain to ice-covered areas to limit transit passage through this strategic area."

Mangone initiated the book series in 1978 with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. In the ensuing years, he has contracted with authors from around the world to provide detailed information on some of the world's most critical navigation passages.

In addition to the International Straits of the World, Mangone has written 12 books and numerous journal articles, authored chapters in 24 other books, and edited another 20 books. He also is the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law.

Recently celebrating his 86th birthday, Mangone has no plans of slowing down. He already is in the planning stages of his next book in the series, which will focus on the Panama Canal.

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