Command of the sea Great Britain accepted the principle in 1805; Russia, in 1824; and the United States (tacitly) in 1894. Many treaties, including the Treaty of Versailles, have dealt with the open seas, and currently the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea formalizes this freedom. Historically, many powers attempted to extend command of the sea into peacetime, imposing taxes or other restrictions on shipping using areas of open sea. For example, Venice claimed the Adriatic, and exacted a heavy toll from vessels navigating its northern waters. Genoa and France each claimed portions of the western Mediterranean. Denmark and Sweden claimed
Gulf of Ob Gulf of Ob The Gulf of Ob (also known as "Ob Bay") (, "Obskaya guba") is a bay of the Arctic Ocean, located in Northern Russia at the mouth of the Ob River. It is the world's longest estuary. The mouth of the Gulf of Ob is in the Kara Sea between the Gydan and Yamal peninsulas. It is about long and varies in width from about , and generally runs north and south. The gulf is relatively shallow, with an average depth from , which restricts heavy sea transport. The Taz Estuary is an eastern side-branch formed by the