Russia seeks to extend Arctic shelf boundaries
In 2014, Russia plans to submit an application for extension of the boundaries of the continental Arctic Shelf to the special UN Commission after modifying and reinforcing the application by the results of additional research, a Russian official said, Arctic Info reports.
Denis Khramov, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia, recalled that Russia had already applied for extension of the territories in the Barents, Bering and Okhotsk seas, as well as in the Central Arctic Ocean. The Commission generally recognized the application as meeting the requirements but requested the Russian Federation to provide an additional proof that the ranges of Lomonosov and Mendeleev, going beyond the boundaries of our official continental shelf, belong to the Mainland.
Denis Khramov said that Russia had signed a special Convention on the law of the sea, under which the establishment of the outer boundary of the continental shelf of any state is the main guarantee of securing the rights of the country's natural resources situated within the continental shelf.
After the adoption of the Convention, Russia was the first to submit its application for establishment of the outer boundary on the outside of the standard 200 nautical miles. So called "baselines" of the boundary, that is, those points on which the land border of any country is fixed, serve as a start for the 200 miles to be measured from, and ownership of the territories beyond them is to be proved by a state concerned in an established order.