Room to Move Strategies for Securing the Seabed
Few of the coastal States making a submission do so without inviting close examina- tion from a neighbouring State. In many cases, two or more States might have access to overlapping areas beyond 200 M, have unresolved boundaries or disputes regarding land or maritime borders. The Commission will not consider submissions regarding disputed areas unless the Parties involved give their consent11. The time limit, which started on 12 May 1999 and expired 10 years later in May 2009, provided the impetus for many States to examine ways of dealing with their neighbours in order to allow the Commission to con- sider their submission14. Within UNCLOS there is an implied obligation for States to nego- tiate maritime boundaries and if they don’t succeed within a reasonable period of time to use settlement dispute mechanisms21.
A coastal State must examine its own circumstances and national interest to determine to what extent it engages with its neighbours in terms of submission preparation. Differ- ent approaches for dealing with boundary issues include the preparation of partial submissions, joint submissions, or coordinated submissions, all reflecting different degrees of cooperation with respect to bi- or multi-lateral agreements and data sharing.
A partial submission is typically made to exclude overlapping or disputed areas, or when a State has very dispersed terri- tory. Other reasons might be to group areas with the same geological characteristics or to spread the workload involved in lodging a submission. Twenty-seven of the 53 submis- sions to date are partial submissions. States can reserve the right to make additional partial submissions at a future time. This has to follow the State’s time limit for submissions, un- less it concerns a disputed area12. Iceland, Indonesia, and the Philippines, are examples of States, which have made partial submissions to avoid possible disputes and reserve the right to submit additional submissions in the future11.
A joint submission is a single submission made by two or more States working collaboratively. There would nor- mally be full disclosure of submission data and information between the coastal States and the teams preparing the submission would operate as a single technical team co- operating on all facets of the submission. Besides techni- cal advantages (e.g. combined datasets, pooled expertise, shared workload), a joint submission can overcome prob-
20 Continental Shelf
lems associated with unresolved boundaries, as these can be negotiated between States independently of the sub- mission. At present 12 States have chosen to make a joint submission. Their efforts are contained in five joint submis- sions of which some are partial submissions.
More than 2 million km2 of all submissions to date are in- cluded in two or more overlapping submissions. In cases of overlapping areas, coordination between States may take the form of agreeing on a possible border in advance of a submission, or agreeing to make “no objection” to each other’s submissions, in which case the Commission can consider the submissions. This level of diplomatic coordi- nation does need to be communicated to the Commission. In some cases a coastal State may object to the examina- tion of another State’s submission until delimitation issues are resolved. States are requested to inform the Commis- sion of any dispute.
States may also work together to maximise their skills and resources. In the South West Pacific for example, SIDS joined forces in a unique example of cooperation. Over four years, the technical teams from nine Pacific Island States shared data and information, and supported each other through a series of capacity building workshops. This resulted in the preparation and lodgement of five full submissions and five preliminary information documents. Five of the States identified areas of overlapping extended continental shelf and resolved to compile joint submissions and preliminary information documents9,10.
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