Can the areas of the shelf around Spitsbergen be properly described as part of the Norwegian continental shelf? It is clear that Spitsbergen is part of Norway, and no one is questioning it. All areas of the continental shelf originating in Norwegian territory are Norwegian in the sense that they are subject to Norwegian jurisdiction. As a result, the shelf areas around Spitsbergen are part of the Norwegian continental shelf. But isn`t there disagreement about the scope of the Svalbard Treaty? It is true that there are divergent views on the geographical scope of certain provisions of the 1920 Treaty of Paris in relation to the marine areas off the archipelago. However, this has nothing to do with the outer limits of the continental shelf. The location of the outer limits of the continental shelf around Spitsbergen has no influence on which rules should apply to the continental shelf within those limits. How big is the Norwegian continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles off Bouvetøya? On 8 February 2019, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf approved the recommendations for the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles off Bouvetøya. The recommendations clarify the outer boundary of the Norwegian continental shelf off the island. This area beyond 200 nautical miles amounts to approximately 170,783 square kilometers. In total, the continental shelf off Bouvetøya covers 612,523 square kilometres. What about Spitsbergen? Norway`s submission to the CLCS and the 2009 CLCS recommendations cover the entire continental shelf more than 200 nautical miles from mainland Norway, Spitsbergen and Jan Mayen. There are various rights and obligations towards coastal States and their scope.
Other different conventions – the 1958 Geneva Convention and the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea – have allowed States to recognize these rights on the continental shelf in less than thirteen years and are very important in regulating the exploration and exploitation of the resources of the continental shelf. Geologically, the continental shelf can be defined as “the area around the continent that extends from the low-water line to the depth where there is usually a significant increase in deciivity at a greater depth.” [xxi] The continental shelf is the gently sloping underwater plain between a continent and the deep ocean. The continental shelf is an extension of the continent`s landmass under the ocean. The continental shelf extends outwards to the continental slope and continental ascent. What was the deadline? What was Norway`s deadline? The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides that any coastal State with a shelf of more than 200 nautical miles is required to submit documents to the CLCS no later than ten years after the entry into force of the Convention for the State concerned. When it became clear that many States, in particular developing countries, would not be able to meet this deadline, the Parties to the Convention decided that the deadline for no country would expire before 13 May 2009. It was also decided that States may meet the deadline by providing so-called preliminary information indicating the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. The Agreement entered into force for Norway in 1996, but our deadline was 13 May 2009.
Article 4 of the Convention provides that the coastal State shall determine the outer edge of the continental margin whenever the edge is more than 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, namely: No. The United States and Canada have worked extensively together to collect the data needed to define the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean. The areas where the continental shelf of the United States and Canada intersect will not be fully known until the two countries determine the extent of their ECS in the Arctic Ocean. Once these areas are identified, the United States and Canada will address the maritime boundary on a bilateral basis in due course. How is the extent of the continental shelf within these limits determined? There are two methods, both based on the topography of the seabed (i.e. physical characteristics). An outer boundary is drawn 60 nautical miles from the base of the continental shelf. The other is based on the thickness of the deposits (i.e. the thickness of the sediments). Coastal States may choose the method of calculation that gives them the greatest possible shelf. He helped interpret the continental shelf area according to their own convenience. Developed countries have applied the criterion of use.
Territorial scope of the continental shelfThe land boundary of the continental shelf in the legal sense is the maritime boundary of the territorial sea.