Maritime Zones (Establishment) Decree, 1996 (N.P.R.C. Decree No. 11 of 1996).

In order to give effect to the provisions of the Law of the Sea Convention this Decree defines the territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf of Sierra Leone, defines the rights of Sierra Leone in respect of those maritime areas and regulates access to and use of by (nationals of) other States of those maritime areas. Further the Decree grants regulation making powers of the Secretary of State for giving effect to provisions of the Decree and particular for the protection and preservation of rare or fragile ecosystems within the marine and the prevention, reduction of sea pollution. The territorial sea of Sierra Leone is that area extending beyond the land territory and internal waters to the belt of sea adjacent thereto, the breadth of which is twelve nautical miles measured from the baseline, being the low-water line along the coast of Sierra Leone as marked on large-scale official charts. The waters on the landward side of the baseline of the territorial sea form part of the internal waters of Sierra Leone. The contiguous zone of Sierra Leone is that area contiguous to the territorial sea and extending up to twenty-four nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. The exclusive economic zone of Sierra Leone comprises the area of the sea, seabed and subsoil that is beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea of Sierra Leone, the outer limit of which is a line seaward, every point of which is at a distance of two hundred nautical miles from the nearest point of the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. The area of the exclusive economic zone forms part of the fisheries waters of Sierra Leone.