Maritime Zones Act, 1977 (Act No. 13).

The Act is divided into 16 sections which contain, inter alia, provisions relating to: Sovereign rights over and limits of Territorial Waters (sect. 3); Innocent passage (sect. 4); Continental Shelf (sect. 5); Exclusive Economic Zone (sect. 6); Rights over EEZ and Continental Shelf (sect. 7); Historic waters (sect. 8); Designated areas of the Continental Shelf and the EEZ (sect. 9). Section 3 proclaims sovereignty of Mauritius over the territorial waters and the seabed and subsoil underlying, and the airspace over, such waters. The limit of the territorial waters is a line every point of which is at a distance of 12 nautical miles from the nearest point of the baseline. The Prime Minister may, having regard to international law and practice, by Order published in the Gazette, amend the limit of the territorial waters. The Order has to be approved by parliament (sect. 3). Baselines are determined in accordance with the straight baseline system (sect. 2). The Continental Shelf extends to the outer edge of the continental margin; or to a distance of two hundred nautical miles from the baseline where the outer edge does not extend up to that distance (sect. 5). The EEZ extends 200 nautical miles from the baseline (sect. 6). Section 7 specifies rights of Mauritius over the Continental Shelf and the EEZ.