Established international legal rights of coastal states over their continental shelves, later superseded by the 1982 UNCLOS III agreement.
Key Facts
- Signed
- 29 April 1958
- Entered into force
- 10 June 1964
- Parent conference
- UNCLOS I (first UN Convention on the Law of the Sea)
- Topics addressed
- 7 (navigation, fishing, cables, research, delimitation, tunneling, airspace)
- Superseded by
- 1982 UNCLOS III agreement
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Prior to 1958, no binding international legal framework governed coastal states' rights over their continental shelves. Growing exploitation of seabed resources and competing national claims made codification of these rules an international priority, prompting the United Nations to convene UNCLOS I in Geneva.
At UNCLOS I, states adopted the Convention on the Continental Shelf on 29 April 1958, one of three treaties agreed at the conference. The convention defined sovereign rights over the continental shelf and addressed seven subject areas including navigation, fishing, scientific research, submarine cables, airspace, delimitation, and tunneling.
The convention entered into force in 1964 and provided the first binding international legal regime for continental shelf rights. It was ultimately superseded by the broader 1982 UNCLOS III agreement, which expanded and replaced the earlier framework with a more comprehensive law of the sea.
Political Outcome
Treaty entered into force 10 June 1964, codifying coastal state rights over continental shelves; superseded by UNCLOS III in 1982.