Navigation through straits of international importance have gained importance in light of the role they play in promotion of international trade as also furthering the interest of the entire community of nations. They have also come out to be a rather integral element of the international law of the sea which rests on the basic principle of "freedom of the seas." The freedom of the seas allows for the seas to be freely used by all nations for fishing and for navigation and thus today the straits of Gibraltar, Hormuz, Malacca, Bab-el-Mandab see a plenitude of sea-borne commerce and as sea...