Rockall territory claimed by United Kingdom
History
There can be no place more desolate, despairing and awful.
The 17.15-metre-high (56.3 ft) rock has been noted in written records since the late 16th century. In the 20th century, its location became relevant due to potential oil and fishing rights that might accrue to a nation recognised as having a legitimate claim to it.In 1955 the British landed on Rockall and claimed it for the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom formally annexed the islet in 1972. According to Ian Mitchell, Rockall was terra nullius (owned by no one) until the 1955 British claim was made.Rockall gives its name to one of the sea areas named in the shipping forecast provided by the British Meteorological Office.
Rockall has been a point of interest for adventurers and amateur radio operators, who have variously landed on or briefly occupied the islet. Fewer than 20 individuals have ever been confirmed to have landed on Rockall, and the longest known continuous occupation is 45 days (achieved in 2014 by a solo person). In a House of Commons debate in 1971, William Ross, Labour MP for Kilmarnock, said: "More people have landed on the moon than have landed on Rockall" (however, only 12 people have landed on the moon, so while possibly true at the time, it is no longer correct).United Kingdom
The UK claims Rockall along with a 12-nautical-mile-radius (22 km) territorial sea around the islet inside the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The UK also claims "a circle of UK sovereign airspace over the islet of Rockall".The UK claimed Rockall on 18 September 1955 when "Two Royal Marines and a civilian naturalist, led by Royal Navy officer Lieutenant Commander Desmond Scott, raised a Union flag on the islet and cemented a plaque into the rock". Prior to this Rockall was legally terra nullius. In 1972, the British Island of Rockall Act formally annexed Rockall to the United Kingdom.The UK considers the rock administratively part of the Isle of Harris and, under the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 a large sea area around it was declared to be under the jurisdiction of Scots law. A navigational beacon was installed on the island in 1982 and the UK declared that no ship would be allowed within a 50-nautical-mile (93 km) radius of the rock. However, in 1997, the UK ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), limiting territorial sea claims to a 12-nautical-mile (22 km) radius, and therefore allowing free passage in waters beyond this.
In 1988, the United Kingdom and Ireland signed an EEZ boundary agreement for which "the location of Rockall was irrelevant to the determination of the boundary". In 1997, the UK ratified UNCLOS, which states that "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf".
As the rock lies within the United Kingdom's EEZ, the UK has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources of the area, including jurisdiction over the protection and preservation of the marine environment.In May 2017, declassified documents revealed that the 1955 decision to claim the rock as UK territory was motivated by worries that it could otherwise be used by "hostile agents" to spy on the future South Uist missile testing range.Early in January 2021, after the UK left the European Union and the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into force, the Northern Celt, an Irish fishing boat based out of Greencastle, County Donegal, was ordered to leave the 12-nautical-mile zone around Rockall by officers of Marine Scotland.  Since 2021, fishing licences issued by the UK to EU vessels have excluded access to the 12 nautical mile zone around Rockall. In 2023, Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue stated that this action was costing the Irish fishing industry up to €7 million per year.