In December 2023, the US Department of State in a press release highlighted its new extended continental shelf (ECS) claims in the Arctic and Bering Sea region.1 The US press release noted that these new claims are on the basis of scientific data and research conducted by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). It further noted that the US is making these claims in accordance with the principles of ‘customary international law’ and as per the provisions of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and in accordance with the guidelines of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). The US move drew mixed reactions from the global legal and polar experts some of which questioned the legitimacy of such US move while others supported the US position.
UNCLOS, since coming into force in 1994, has remained a credible international mechanism for establishing legal framework for maritime jurisdictional claims of the states. Article 3 of the UNCLOS provides coastal states with12 nautical miles of ‘territorial waters’ from their baselines. A coastal State enjoys full sovereignty in its territorial waters that includes state’s sovereignty over its territorial sea, the airspace above, and the seabed and subsoil beneath it.2 Article 57 and Article 58 of the UNCLOS provide states with 200 nautical miles of exclusive economic zones (EEZ) that extends seaward from its baseline.3 In their designated EEZ, states have ssovereign rights over exploration, exploitation, conservation and management of natural resources, they can establish artificial islands, installations and structures, undertake scientific research and enable protection and preservation of marine environment.
In addition to these, a signatory state as per Article 76 of the UNCLOS can even make claims for an area beyond its designated EEZ if that signatory state becomes successful in justifying through scientific and technical data before Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) that the area beyond its designated EEZ is an extension of its continental shelf. CLCS, on the basis of submitted scientific data by a claimant state, makes its recommendations........