Guyana submitted its Continental Shelf claim

By Denis Scott Chabrol

Wednesday, 07 September 2011 1615

Guyana on Wednesday announced that it has asked the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to extend the South American nation's continental shelf in the hope of tapping into oil and gas reserves there.

Foreign Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett said the submission made Tuesday seeks to add another 150 nautical miles from the 200 nautical mile outer limit of Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Lebanon boundary delimitation issues with Israel

Aug 4, 2011 7:20 PM GMT+0400
Reporter: Nayla Razzouk in Amman, Jordan, at nrazzouk2@bloomberg.net.

Editor: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net

Lebanon’s parliament approved the demarcation of the country’s maritime border amid a dispute with Israel over the drilling for natural gas and oil in the Mediterranean Sea.

An Omani Citizen urges Amnesty International to adequately examine and investigate what is brought to it

The following is an Omani senior citizen's (Mohammed Al Mahruqy) response to Amnesty International to their article on the Oman protests

7th April 2011

International Secretariat

Amnesty International

1 Easton Street

London

WC1X 0DW, UK

Telephone: +44-20-74135500

Fax number: +44-20-79561157

Oman most-improved nation in last 40 years followed by China

By Tavia Grant

Globe and Mail Update

Published Thursday, Nov. 04, 2010 11:41AM EDT

Last updated Thursday, Nov. 04, 2010 11:42AM EDT

Life is better in most nations since UN began tracking human development index 20 years ago, but progress hasn't been uniform .
 

Basic aspects of life such as health and education have improved for the vast majority of the planet's population in the past two decades, with the greatest strides seen in the poorest countries, a United Nations report said Thursday.

The UN's human development index, launched in its 20th edition, shows that while development has not been uniform, huge steps in areas such as life expectancy, school enrolment, literacy and income means its index of 135 countries has climbed 18 per cent since 1990 and 41 per cent since 1970.

A large algae bloom in the Sea of Oman destroyed a coral reef

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- A large algae bloom in the Gulf of Oman destroyed a coral reef in just three weeks, showing the threat such

United Nations Resolusion

A United Nations resolution (UN resolution) is a formal text adopted by a United Nations (UN) body. Although any UN body can issue resolutions, in practice

Laws on captured pirates

Page last updated at 12:06 GMT, Thursday, 6 May 2010 13:06 UK

Warships patrolling Indian Ocean waters off the Somali coast are enjoying greater success in capturing pirates - but the legal challenges posed by 21st Century piracy raises question on what to do with suspects after they have been caught

Isn't it the responsibility of the country whose navy apprehended the pirates to prosecute?

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea defines piracy as a universal crime and gives sovereign nations the right to seize and prosecute pirates. But whether a country wants to prosecute arrested pirates depends on its own law. Experts say that several countries do not know how to incorporate the convention into their own jurisdiction.

According to the report Fighting Piracy by Commander James Kraska and Captain Brian Wilson: "On the high seas or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of a state, such as Somalia's ungoverned territorial seas, any nation's warship may take action against piracy. Pirated ships may be boarded, the pirates can be detained and the property on board the vessel can be seized and submitted to admiralty and criminal courts. The registry or "flag" of the attacked vessel, the state of nationality of any of the victims or crew, the nationality of the on-scene warship, and, in some cases, coastal and port states, all have a valid basis for asserting jurisdiction. But it can take weeks or months to sort out these logistics and legal issues."

About 20 warships from the navies of half a dozen countries operating under US, European Union and Nato commands police the pirate-infested waters. Many have signed agreements with Kenya, enabling them to send apprehended pirates there for trial.

Why are many countries reluctant to prosecute?

Suspected pirates have been taken to the US, France and the Netherlands, among others, for prosecution. Russia is reportedly considering bringing a group of suspected pirates to Moscow for trial.

But maritime experts have pointed out that the length of time taken to bring some of those cases to trial indicates the complexities involved.

In some cases, legal arguments have centred on how long the suspects were kept in detention before either getting legal assistance or being charged - possibly violating the legal process of the countries involved.

Cyrus Mody from the International Maritime Bureau says the logistical and legal burdens involved in transporting pirate suspects to Western countries can be daunting.

"It is difficult getting the pieces together, the evidence, the witnesses. Who's going to pay for it all?

"And if a prosecution fails, the burden lies with that country. There is always the prospect that the suspected pirate might then claim asylum," he told the BBC.

In some cases, suspects are simply released after they have been disarmed because of the potential legal headaches.

Why do most of the arrested pirates end up in Kenya?

Kenya, which borders Somalia, has signed agreements with the European Union, the US, Britain, Canada, China and Denmark to prosecute and jail pirates. It has been promised financial aid in return.

There are more than 100 suspected pirates in custody, either awaiting, or already on trial. But the process is slow - lasting up to a year - and costly.

In May, Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula said Kenya was unwilling to take on any more prosecutions and was to review the agreements. He said some of the countries had failed to give adequate financial support to Kenya's strained justice system.

Mr Wetangula said a key problem was what would happen to the pirates after their jail terms were up.

What happens to the others?

Nato, Russia and India, among others, have not signed an agreement with Kenya and so their navies need to determine whether or not to bring the pirates home for trial or look for another Gulf of Aden littoral state to prosecute. This has proved difficult.

According to reports, the Indian Ocean island nation of the Seychelles is emerging as the second regional centre for trying pirates seized by EU naval units. Working with the UN, the country recently amended its criminal code to enable it to prosecute pirates under universal jurisdiction.

The EU has also opened negotiations with other countries in the region, including South Africa and Tanzania, in the hope of reaching agreements enabling the prosecution of suspected pirates.

What about setting up an international court?

In April, the United Nations Security Council adopted a Russian proposal to consider the creation of a new court to deal with piracy. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be asked to report within three months on options for "a regional tribunal or an international tribunal and corresponding imprisonment arrangements".

Some experts have argued, however, that this option would be costly and judicially cumbersome. There is still the issue of where convicted pirates would be held.

Published in

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8664623.stm

Iran to hold an International conference on nuclear disarmament

Israel Time: 15:17 (EST+7)

Last update - 14:24 04/04/2010

Iran announced Sunday it will hold an international conference on nuclear disarmament later this month, the official news agency IRNA reported. The conference is part of efforts by Tehran to show it is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons

 

"Iran, as advocate of nuclear disarmament, will hold this conference as a call to all countries to demolish their nuclear arsenals," Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili told IRNA.

The foreign ministers of Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, Oman and Turkmenistan have already confirmed their participation at the two-day conference to be held on April 17 in Tehran.

The conference - dubbed Nuclear Energy For All, Nuclear Weapons For No One - is scheduled to take place days after a U.S.-hosted summit on nuclear security.

Jalili who was in Beijing earlier this week for talks about forthcoming UN-sanctions, said the Chinese had also welcomed the Iranian initiative and will take part on the event. China has resisted imposing new international sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

Iran has been under growing pressure for its controversial atomic program and already faced three resolutions from the UN Security Council until now. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that new sanctions against Iran could just increase the country's motivation for more technological progress and reiterated that "intimidation of our nation by such threats cannot hinder our progress."

The U.S. and some of its allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charges.

Published in

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1160923.html

Continental Shelf claims increase rapidly

By NATHANIAL GRONEWOLD, Greenwire

UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. commission charged with checking and certifying nations' claims to seabed stretching hundreds of miles from their shorelines is getting very busy very fast.

The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf -- a body of specialized undersea geographers and hydrographers established under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention -- has seen its workload double from late last year, fulfilling its members' predictions of a backlog that could take years to resolve.

From 2001 through 2007, just nine claims were put forward as more advanced Law of the Sea Treaty countries surveyed their continental shelves. Giant claims submitted by Brazil, Australia and New Zealand were approved in 2007 and 2008, freeing those nations to prospect for hydrocarbons, mineral deposits or methane hydrates in their newly minted control zones.

But since Japan issued its sweeping claim to Pacific Ocean territory last November, many smaller states have leaped into the fray.

All told, the commission now has 22 applications, some of which include partial claims by the United Kingdom and France over sea bottom around their colonies. Nine claims arrived since Japan's submission, with five of those coming in the first three months of this year.

The newcomers include Burma, Mauritius, Yemen, Suriname and Seychelles. Claims by Uruguay and the Philippines arrived just last week in time for the 23rd session of the commission that wrapped up here Thursday.

And more applications are expected. Canada, Denmark, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Vietnam and a few others have said they are conducting surveys and preparing claims. Applications by Argentina, India, Kenya, Maldives, oil-rich Angola and more could arrive next month.

But the commission is working its way through earlier claims as applications pile up.Of the 22 claims, the commission has fully reviewed and given full or partial approval to just five. For example, the commission has confirmed the Russian Federation's 2001 claims in the Pacific Ocean and the Barents Sea, but it has told Moscow that it needed better data to review its attempt to control a huge swath of the Arctic.

The commission is still working its way through 2006 applications. Commission members are expected to issue their opinion soon on claims off Europe's west coast spelled out in a joint application by the E.U. states of Spain, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Work will also soon be concluded on the commission's review of claims made by Norway in the Arctic and Atlantic and a small claim by Mexico for control of a patch of territory in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Commission members speaking on background say these three applications are sound and will likely win approval.

Tensions rise

Diplomatic tensions are rising with the applications as dormant territorial disputes resurface.

In February, China and Korea responded critically to Japan's claim to seabed off distant islands that it controls. The dispute centers around Okinotori, an outcrop that is found nowhere near Korean or Chinese waters. The two claim Japan's Okinotori is in fact a rock, not a habitable island, and therefore does not qualify under Law of the Sea rules.

"Available scientific data fully reveal that the rock of Oki-no-Tori, on its natural conditions, obviously cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of its own, and therefore shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf," the Chinese government says in its letter to the U.N. secretary-general.

And more serious conflicts are emerging. France has signaled its intention to claim continental shelf abutting the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, French territories very close to the east coast of Canada. The Canadian government has issued a strongly negative reaction, insisting that France and Canada have already settled on a maritime boundary through a bilateral treaty.

Argentina's forthcoming application is expected to include seabed surrounding the Malvinas, otherwise known as the Falkland Islands, which are controlled by the United Kingdom.

The most serious potential for disputes is in the Arctic, where Canada, Denmark, Norway and Russia all have competing claims.

Russia says it controls land beneath the North Pole, though Canadian media reports suggest there is growing evidence that Denmark could have a stronger claim through its administration of Greenland. Canada and Denmark still have unresolved territorial disputes in the high Arctic, and Russia and Norway have not fully delineated their maritime borders there.

Currently, the United States, Canada and Denmark are cooperating in exploring and mapping the subsurface features of the Arctic, gathering scientific data that will likely go into future submissions to the U.N. continental shelf commission.

But the United States is not legally eligible to participate in the process, as Congress has yet to ratify the Law of the Sea. Commission members have in the past said that they would most likely have to ignore a U.S. application if Washington submits one.

Copyright 2009 E&E Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
For more news on energy and the environment, visit http://www.greenwire.com/.

Published in

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/04/13/13greenwire-rising-seabed-claims-swamp-un-commission-10511.html

UK “considering approach” to Falklands’ continental shelf and May deadline

Thursday, April 9th 2009 - 5:28 am UTC

According to an update from the Foreign Office the UK is currently researching its submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, CLCS, in respect of those areas around the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

Data has been collected but plans for the submission have not been finalized, “and we are considering our approach in view of the May 2009 deadline”.

The release also reveals that the UK discussed the issue with technical and legal experts from the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2001 and 2004, with a view to making a joint submission without prejudice to rival sovereignty claims.

However, “despite a UK proposal for a further meeting in 2007, no further bilateral meetings have taken place”.

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) confers on all coastal States sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting the natural resources of its continental shelf.

UNCLOS provides that each coastal State possesses as a matter of international law a continental shelf which extends to 200 nautical miles from the shoreline (regardless of whether or not a geological continental shelf exists that far).

In addition, Article 76 of UNCLOS provides for coastal States to seek to establish an extended outer limit to the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, up to 350 nautical miles from its coastline, or 100 miles from where the sea reaches a depth of 2,500 metres, and where specified geological conditions exist.

For this purpose, the State is required to submit evidence to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), which will then make recommendations concerning the establishment of the outer limits of the State’s continental shelf.

As of 8 April 2009, the CLCS has received 21 submissions from coastal States, and we expect that many more will follow.

So far the UK in 2006 made its first partial submission, jointly with Ireland, France and Spain, in respect of the continental shelf in the Bay of Biscay. This submission is currently under consideration by the CLCS.

In May 2008, the UK made another partial submission in respect of the shelf around Ascension Island – this was formally presented to the CLCS on 27 August 2008.

Also in May 2008, the UK notified the CLCS that it is not making a submission with full supporting data to define an area of continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast of British Antarctic Territory, but that it reserves the right to do so in the future.

On 31 March 2009, the UK made a partial submission in respect of the continental shelf in the Hatton Rockall area of the NE Atlantic. Informal discussions have been taking place with Iceland, Ireland and Denmark (on behalf of the Faroe Islands), all of whom believe that they too may have a geological case for an extended continental shelf in the Hatton Rockall area.

Finally the chapter on the South Atlantic Islands

In cases where a dispute exists between the coastal States concerned, the Rules of Procedure of the CLCS require it to decline to examine any submission which would prejudice delimitation between them without the agreement of the States concerned. Ideally, the States concerned will agree on a common approach before submitting to the Commission. The best solution in such areas may be for the States concerned to make a joint submission, or at least separate but complementary submissions.

Regarding Antarctica, the right to an extended continental shelf under the UN Law of the Sea has to be considered against the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty, which put all territorial claims in abeyance.

Of the seven Claimant States in Antarctica, Australia made a submission to the UN Commission for the Limits of Continental Shelf in respect of the Australian Antarctic Territory in 2004.

Australia submitted full co-ordinates of its continental shelf margin, but asked that the CLCS simply store the data and not consider it (because of the Antarctic Treaty).

In 2006, New Zealand notified the CLCS that it was not submitting data for the continental shelf around its Ross Dependency in Antarctica, but that it reserved the right to do so in the future. The UK followed the New Zealand model in May 2008.

The UK expects that the remaining Claimant States will also follow one of these two approaches.

Published in

http://en.mercopress.com/2009/04/09/uk-considering-approach-to-falklands-continental-shelf-and-may-deadline

Japan submitted Continental Shelf claim to UN

On 12 November 2008, Japan submitted to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, in accordance with Article 76, paragraph 8, of the Convention, information on the limits of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.

It is noted that the Convention entered into force for Japan on 20 July 1996.

In accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, a communication is being circulated to all Member States of the United Nations, as well as States Parties to the Convention, in order to make public the executive summary of the submission, including all charts and coordinates contained in that summary.

The consideration of the submission made by Japan will be included in the provisional agenda of the twenty-third session of the Commission to be held in New York in March-April 2009.
Upon completion of the consideration of the submission, the Commission will make recommendations pursuant to Article 76 of the Convention.

Published on 12 November in

http://un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/submission_jpn.htm

A meeting of Arab Countries on Red Sea Piracy

CAIRO, November 1 (RIA Novosti) - Egypt has announced it will host a meeting of Arab countries on Red Sea piracy in November, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

"Egypt has sent invitations to Arab countries having access to the Red Sea to take part in a meeting to coordinate efforts and develop means of fighting against the problem of piracy," the ministry said.

The meeting will be held "at a high level" under the common chairmanship of Egypt and Yemen.
Egypt also said that the growing problem of piracy in Somalia was spreading to the Red Sea.

At the beginning of June, the UN Security Council passed a resolution permitting countries to enter Somalia's territorial waters to combat "acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea."

According to UN data, in 2008 Somali pirates seized about 60 foreign ships for ransom. Their aggregate "revenues" this year could reach $30 million.

Published in

http://en.rian.ru/world/20081101/118091633.html

Australia extended its continental shelf

Australia's submission for jurisdiction over an additional 2.5 million square kilometres of seabed has been confirmed by the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

The Commission has confirmed the location of the outer limit of Australia's continental shelf in nine distinct marine regions, which entitles Australia to large areas of continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

This decision means Australia now has jurisdiction over an extra 2.5 million square kilometres of continental shelf, which is almost fine times the size of France, almost ten times the size of New Zealand, and approximately the same size as Western Australia.

In these areas, Australia has exclusive rights to what exists on the seabed, including oil, gas and biological resources.

"This is a major boost to Australia's offshore resource potential and also to our ability to preserve the marine environment on the seabed," Minister for Resources and Energy, the Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP, said.

The confirmation is in response to a submission made through a close partnership between Geoscience Australia, the Attorney General's Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. "It is the culmination of 15 years of cutting edge work, carried out under Geoscience Australia's Law of the Sea and Maritime Boundaries Advice project", Geoscience Australia's Chief Executive Officer, Neil Williams said.

"The dedication and ongoing commitment shown by the project team has resulted in this fantastic outcome for Australia", he said.

Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the continental shelf extends at least 200 nautical miles from Australia's coastline.

Australia is also entitled to the submerged prolongation of its landmass extending beyond 200 nautical miles (the so-called extended continental shelf), to limits defined in the 1982 Convention.

To confirm Australia's entitlement, Geoscience Australia analysed an enormous amount of new data gathered on 17 marine surveys conducted over eight years in some of the most remote and inhospitable parts of the world's oceans.
Minister's media release
Map of continental shelf extensions [PDF 747KB]

Published in
http://www.ga.gov.au/news/index.jsp#clcs