Tiefwasserreede
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The ''Tiefwasserreede'' ( 'deep water anchorage') is an
exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...
of Germany's
territorial waters Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf ( ...
in the
German Bight The German Bight ( ; ; ); ; ; sometimes also the German Bay) is the southeastern bight of the North Sea bounded by the Netherlands and Germany to the south, and Denmark and Germany to the east (the Jutland peninsula). To the north and west i ...
, used as a
roadstead A roadstead or road is a sheltered body of water where ships can lie reasonably safely at anchor without dragging or snatching.United States Army technical manual, TM 5-360. Port Construction and Rehabilitation'. Washington: United States. Gove ...
for shipping waiting for access to the
Port of Hamburg The Port of Hamburg (, ) is a seaport on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from its mouth on the North Sea. Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (), it is the country's largest seaport by volume. In terms of TEU throughput, Hambur ...
,
Ports of Bremen The Ports of Bremen, Bremen Ports or Bremish Ports, in German "Bremische Häfen" consist of the commercial ports in Bremen and Bremerhaven. They are managed by ''bremenports GmbH & Co. KG'', a company of private status in public property. In ...
and other North Sea ports. The exclave lies around west of
Heligoland Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, the ...
, outside the
12 mile limit Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf (thes ...
that usually defines territorial waters, but remains German territory under Article 12 of the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 169 sov ...
which makes an exception for roadsteads. It legally forms part of the state of
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
and is completely surrounded by the German
exclusive economic zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...
.


Definition

Germany initially announced plans to declare the ''Tiefwasserreede'' as sovereign territory in 1983. Motivated by the 1978 ''Amoco Cadiz'' oil spill, the federal government and states wanted to assert sovereignty over coastal waters in order to combat oil pollution – particularly ships pumping oil in the North Sea. Following the passage of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Germany announced it would both extend its territorial waters from 3 miles to 12, and declare a deep water roadstead. The move was opposed by the United States and
German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...
, who feared a reprisal from
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
, which could significantly reduce access to the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
by extending its own territorial waters. Before the UN Convention could come into force, the ''Tiefwasserreede'' and other waters around Heligoland were declared as German territorial waters - the "Helgoland-Box" - in 1985, while the 3-mile rule still ruled the rest of the coastline. The 12 mile rule was not implemented until 1994. ''Tiefwasserreede'' was then defined in law as the patch of sea bounded by the following points: # # # #


Challenges

The stretch of water at the mouths of the rivers
Jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...
,
Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...
and
Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...
– the
Heligoland Bight The Heligoland Bight, also known as Helgoland Bight, (, ) is a bay which forms the southern part of the German Bight, itself a bay of the North Sea, located at the mouth of the Elbe river. The Heligoland Bight extends from the mouth of the Elb ...
– is one of the busiest shipping channels in the world, and when there are delays at German ports, significant traffic can build up in the ''Tiefwasserreede''. During the 2021–2022 global supply chain crisis, over a dozen ships were sometimes waiting at a time in the roadstead. The use of the water as an
anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...
poses some challenges for German offshore wind power, as undersea power cables must be routed away from the ''Tiefwasserreede'' to avoid damage from ship's anchors.
Offshore wind farms Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of ca ...
cannot be built within two nautical miles of the ''Tiefwasserreede''. As well as a mooring for ships, the ''Tiefwasserreede'' is also used as a dumping ground for
bay mud Bay mud consists of thick deposits of soft, unconsolidated silty clay, which is saturated with water; these soil layers are situated at the bottom of certain estuary, estuaries, which are normally in temperate regions that have experienced cyclic ...
from dredging of the Elbe at Hamburg.


References

{{Reflist Roadsteads of Europe Enclaves and exclaves Water transport in Germany