Grey Areas in Maritime Delimitation

Abstract This article considers some recent jurisprudence in maritime boundary delimitation that results in the creation of ‘grey areas’. Such grey areas have generated uncertainty in practice, specifically concerning claims to entitlements and the rights that States may exercise in such areas. The article reviews the two Bay of Bengal cases (International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea 2012 and the Annex VII Tribunal 2014) and two cases before the International Court of Justice ( Somalia v. Kenya 2021; Nicaragua v. Colombia 2023), indicating the need for delimitation of maritime areas and legal rights to reflect the ‘physical reality at the time of delimitation’.