The document is the English version of Vietnam’s Law of the Sea (LotS) adopted in 2012. This legal document includes scope and application of the Law, interpretation of terms of maritime zones, vessels types, Vietnam’s coastal state jurisdictions, and legal status in those maritime zones, the rights and duties of other states in those maritime zones, and codes for maritime operations of foreign vessels, individuals, and organization. Apart from the innocent passage of foreign military vessels and the foreign states’ rights to lay submarine cables and pipelines, the rest of the contents stated in Vietnam’s Law of the Sea conforms to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Article 12.2 of the Law requires prior notice to the competent Vietnamese authorities for innocent passage of foreign military vessels through Vietnam’s territorial sea, which is not required as stated in the UNCLOS. Article 16.2 requires written consent of competent Vietnamese authorities for the laying of submarines cables and pipelines in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which is also not stated in the UNCLOS. However, Article 2.2 states that the provision of an international treaty to which Vietnam is a contracting party shall prevail over Vietnam’s LotS if there are differences between the two, which includes to the UNCLOS.

Document (PDF): Vietnam Law of the Sea (English version).