REVIEW: The length of the Arctic
MOSCOW. March 17 (Interfax) - Russia has overcome an important psychological threshold on the path to expanding its borders in the Arctic, as the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) has unanimously affirmed Russia's application to recognize more than 50,000 square kilometres of the Sea of Okhotsk as part of the Russian continental shelf.
Russia has been seeking this decision for more than ten years, working for years on the commission's concerns while simultaneously gaining experience for a more ambitious project - claims to extend its borders in the Arctic along the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean
Ten years and 52,000 square km
CLCS chairman Lawrence Awosika informed Russian Natural Resources and Environment Minister Sergei Donskoi of the commission's affirmative decision on Russia's application at a meeting at UN headquarters in New York.
Upon his return from the United States, Donskoi told Interfax that he believes the commission's approval is a very important step on the path to implementing an ambitious project for Russia - the world's longest continental shelf border in the Arctic.
"The continental shelf of neutral waters in the middle of the Sea of Okhotsk has become Russian. This refers to a section of the continental shelf with an area of 52,000 square km, located beyond 200 nautical miles from Russia's coast. In size this area can be compared to Lack Michigan or two Sicilies. But the most important thing is that we see the affirmative decision on the Sea of Okhotsk as a very important step on the path to the approval of claims to the world's longest Arctic shelf border," Donskoi said.
He said it took years to refine the claim to meet the commission's criteria.
Final and binding
The UN commission agreed with the scientific, technical and legal rationalization of Russia's claim on the Sea of Okhotsk, which means that Russia managed to put together a package of evidence that the enclave belongs to Russia and validate its rights within the bounds of international law.
"Under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, shelf borders established by a littoral nation on the basis of commission recommendations are final and binding for all," Donskoi said.
He also noted another important aspect - the extension of Russian jurisdiction to the enclave in the Sea of Okhotsk.
"This means that the requirements of Russian legislation in regard to regulation of fishing, catching crab and mollusks, protection of the environment, the jurisdiction of our regulatory and oversight authorities fully extend to these waters. This means that an end has been put to uncontrolled natural resource use and fishing in the area, which is key for the ecosystem of the Sea of Okhotsk," Donskoi said.
Hydrocarbons
The area in the Sea of Okhotsk that has now become Russian is believed to be rich in valuable mineral resources and could hold more than 1 billion tonnes of hydrocarbons.
"The recognition of the Sea of Okhotsk as an internal sea of the Russian Federation opens up new opportunities and prospects for the Russian economy. The development of shelf resources is a priority of domestic industrial policy in the area of subsurface resource use. Now Russia gets exclusive rights to the subsurface resources and sea floor of the enclave, in other words the ability to explore for and develop new reserves of mineral resources, hydrocarbons, as well as bioresources - crab, mollusks and others," Donskoi said.
Without losing any time, Russia is rushing to study the oil and gas potential beyond the 200-mile zone. The Federal Subsurface Resources Agency has already announced a tender to conduct work on assessing the prospects of oil and gas on the Russian continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean.
Geologists are being asked to conduct surveys in the Arctic Ocean in Podvodnikov, Amundsen and Nansen basins, Vilkitsky depression, the outer shelf of the Laptev and East Siberian seas, an area spanning a total of about 350,000 square km. The work will be done within the context of the presentation that Russia is preparing for the CLCS.
Arctic competition
Russia plans to submit a claim to the CLCS in 2014 on extending the borders of its Arctic shelf, including the Lomonosov Ridge, Podvodnikov basin and the Mendeleev elevation. In January, the Foreign Ministry said that Russia is completing the preparation of a revised claim. If it is approved, Russia's borders will expand by 1.2 million square km, giving it the longest Arctic border in the world.
However, Russia is not alone in the Arctic. Its neighbors also want to get a piece of the still common pie. In addition, nations far from the Arctic Circle such as China and India have declared their interest in this region.
Canada submitted its preliminary claim to the UN Commission in December 2013 to extend the border of its continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean by 1.2 million square km, including Lomonosov Ridge and the North Pole, which Russia also claims. Donskoi said at the time that Canada's claim to the North Pole is unsubstantiated.
"So far Canada has not made official claims in its application. Canada has only specified that they will prepare their claim to the Arctic shelf taking into account a proposal to also consider the North Pole. In my view, this is not quite a substantiated position and, of course, specialists have yet to take a look at what Canada is basing its claim on," Donskoi said.
According to international law, the North Pole and the surrounding region of the Arctic Ocean do not belong to any one country. However, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States have rights to a 370-km exclusive economic zone along their coastlines.
Following the ratification of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, countries that have signed on to the convention have a ten-year period to make claims to expand the borders of their continental shelf beyond the 200 nautical miles of the original boundaries.
