IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DoD Releases 2015 Fiscal Year Freedom of Navigation Report

Press Operations
Release No: NR-143-16
April 25, 2016

Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) released its 2015 fiscal year Freedom of Navigation (FON) Report, which provides a summary of excessive maritime claims that were challenged by U.S. forces during the period of Oct. 1, 2014, through Sept. 30, 2015. The report summarizes challenges to excessive maritime claims asserted by 13 claimants throughout the world.

The DoD FON program is comprehensive in scope, encompassing all of the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea and airspace available to all nations under international law. The program is implemented actively against excessive maritime claims by claimants in every region of the world in order to support DoD’s global interest in mobility and access.




Each year, DoD compiles an unclassified FON Report providing summaries of the FON operations and other FON related activities conducted by U.S. forces. The summarized reports transparently demonstrate the U.S. non-acquiescence to excessive maritime claims, while still protecting the operational security of U.S. military forces.



The 2015 DoD FON Report is available at http://policy.defense.gov/OUSDPOffices/FON.aspx.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/742156/dod-releases-2015-fiscal-year-freedom-of-navigation-report

U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Freedom of Navigation (FON) Report for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015

Below is a summary of excessive maritime claims that were challenged by DoD operational assertions and activities during the period of October 1, 2014, through September 30, 2015, in order to preserve the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law:

Argentina
Prior notification required for foreign warships to enter the territorial sea (TTS).

China*
Excessive straight baselines; jurisdiction over airspace above the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ); restriction on foreign aircraft flying through an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) without the intent to enter national airspace; domestic law criminalizing survey activity by foreign entities in the EEZ; prior permission required for innocent passage of foreign military ships through the TTS.

India*
Prior consent required for military exercises or maneuvers in the EEZ.

Indonesia*
Limits on archipelagic sea lane passage through normal routes used for international navigation; prior notification required for foreign warships to enter the TTS and archipelagic waters; restriction on stopping, dropping anchor, or cruising without legitimate reason in seas adjoining territorial seas.

Iran*
Restrictions on right of transit passage through Strait of Hormuz to States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; prohibition on foreign military activities and practices in the EEZ.

Libya*
Claimed historical waters status (i.e., internal waters) for the Gulf of Sidra.

Malaysia*
Prior authorization required for nuclear-powered ships to enter the TTS; consent required for military exercises or maneuvers in the EEZ.

Maldives*
Prior permission required for foreign vessels to enter the EEZ.

Nicaragua
Excessive straight baselines and 200-nautical mile TTS; prior notification required for vessels to enter the TTS; security jurisdiction in the contiguous zone; prior notification to enter the contiguous zone.

Oman*
Prior permission required for innocent passage of foreign military ships through the TTS; requirement for innocent passage through the Strait of Hormuz (an international strait).

Philippines*
Claims archipelagic waters as internal waters. U.S. Department of Defense Freedom of Navigation Report For Fiscal Year 2015 Page 2 of 2 Claimant Excessive Maritime Claims

Taiwan
Prior notification required for foreign military or government vessels to enter the TTS.

Vietnam* Excessive straight baselines; prior notification required for foreign warships to enter the TTS.

Note: * designates multiple challenges to the claim(s) during the reporting period.

http://policy.defense.gov/Portals/11/Documents/gsa/cwmd/FON_Report_FY15.pdf