Despite favorable developments in the law of the sea, including the entry into force of the UN Law of the Sea (LOS) Convention, the adoption of the Part XI agreement which reforms the LOS Convention, and the recent negotiation of the 1995 UN Convention on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, a number of states continue to assert excessive maritime claims inconsistent with international law in waters off their coasts. Many of these claims impair the freedoms of navigation and overflight guaranteed in the LOS Convention. Although not yet a party to the Convention, the United States views the navigational provisions of the Convention as reflective of customary international law and, as such, available for all nations to enjoy. The United States also believes that unchallenged excessive maritime claims may, in time, become valid through acquiescence. Accordingly, it is necessary for maritime nations to protest excessive coastal claims through diplomatic channels and to exercise their navigation and overflight rights in disputed regions. The United States has accepted this responsiblity by establishing and preserving the Freedom of Navigation Program. Since its inception in 1979, over 100 diplomatic protests have been filed and over 300 operational assertions have been conducted. During FY 1995, operational assertions were conducted by the U.S. armed forces against the following countries that maintained claims contrary to international law:
| Country | Excessive Claims Challenged |
|---|---|
| Bangladesh | Claimed security zone; claimed territorial airspace beyond 12 nautical miles (nm) |
| Cambodia* | Claimed security zone; claimed territorial airspace beyond 12 nm; prior permission for warship to enter territorial sea |
| Djibouti* | Excessive straight baselines |
| Iran | Prior permission to enter territorial sea |
| Maldives* | Prior permission for warship to enter territorial sea; claimed territorial airspace beyond 12 nm |
| Oman | Excessive straight baselines; prior permission to enter territorial sea |
| Philippines* | Excessive straight baselines; claims archipelagic waters as internal waters |
| Somalia* | 200 nm territorial sea; prior permission to enter territorial sea |
| Sudan* | Prior permission for warship to enter territorial sea |
| Thailand | Excessive straight baselines |
| United Arab Emirates | Prior permission for warship to enter territorial sea |
| Yemen | Prior permission for warship to enter territorial sea |
| * Denotes that Freedom of Navigation assertion was also conducted in FY 1994 | |
In addition, military ships and aircraft frequently conducted routine transits on, over, and under international straits, such as the Straits of Gibraltar, Hormuz, and Malacca, and through normal archipelagic routes through Indonesia and the Philippines.
