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The United States is one of the largest nations in the world, holding great geostrategic importance and maritime dominance since it has the largest exclusive economic zone in the world. The U.S. Department of State announced the extension of its Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) in December 2023.
Illustration by Team Geostrata
About 1 million square kilometres (386,100 square miles) were claimed by the United States, which are predominantly in the Arctic region and Bering Sea. This claim holds huge geostrategic importance since these areas have claims from Canada and Russia too. Additionally, the shelf’s boundaries extend into the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico.
WHAT IS THE EXTENDED CONTINENTAL SHELF?
The Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) is central to understanding the extension of the U.S. continental shelf. It is that portion of the continental shelf that is beyond two hundred nautical miles from the respective nation’s coast; it is the seabed area that surrounds large landmasses. International law permits coastal nations to claim this area along with the right to manage and exploit its resources. The limits of ECS are set in Article 76 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
While the extended continental shelf and exclusive economic zone seem the same, their differences are crucial to understand. The difference between ECS and EEZ is that both are different maritime zones and while the maximum extension of EEZ is 200 nautical miles from the coast of a nation, ECS can extend beyond the set limit of 200 nautical miles. Secondly, ECS is not considered an extension of EEZs either. The Extended Continental Shelf is known to be extremely important in the realm of international maritime law and is geostrategically important too.
EXTENSION OF THE US CONTINENTAL SHELF
In this historic move, the U.S. officially expanded its territory by approximately 1 million square kilometres, which has redefined the shelf boundaries of the region. The claimed area is in seven regions: the Arctic, Atlantic, Bering Sea, Pacific, Mariana Islands, and two areas in the Gulf of Mexico.
The research behind this announcement is massive; it began its research in 2003 with a multi-agency collaboration with the U.S. State Department, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Geological Survey. The aim was to compile the geological data to determine the outer limits of the extended continental shelf.
This decision is backed by extensive offshore mapping and the collection of marine geophysical data and analysis, which took almost two decades. This decision explains how the previously recognized seabed area, which is surrounded by huge landmasses, extends further than the existing data.
The U.S. State Department, through extensive research, has outlined the area under the sea again, which is the new extended continental shelf. Through this, the U.S. has joined over 75 countries that have previously redefined their continental shelves. For instance, Russia also submitted many claims in 1994 for their extended continental shelf through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Following Russia’s latest claims, they have also submitted a claim in the Arctic region for an area of about 2.1 million square kilometers. Additionally, Canada, Norway, and Denmark also have claims for areas in the Arctic Sea.
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the foundation of this decision by the United States. This framework provides the rules and limitations for states claiming the ECS and EEZ for their nations. According to UNCLOS, nations can claim an ECS up to 350 nautical miles from their baseline or 100 nautical miles from its 2,500-meter isobath, which is the line that connects depths of 2,500 meters.
The important Article 76 of UNCLOS talks about the legal basis for the extension of a country’s continental shelf beyond the set limit of two hundred nautical miles. It lays down specific regulations to be met in determining the extension. The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) is a body that evaluates the claims of nations regarding their extension of the continental shelf.
ECONOMIC AND GEOSTRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS
This extension permits Washington to decide whether to extract oil and gas reserves in the extension, initiate seabed mining to search for minerals or protect the ecosystems found in the seabed of the extension. These decisions hold great maritime value since they will hugely impact the economy of the nation along with the underwater ecosystem.
The U.S. ECS claim covers areas in the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans; additionally, the Gulf of Mexico and the Bering Strait, which is an area that holds great geostrategic importance in the ever-changing global tableau since Canada and Russia also claim some part in the region.
The claim of the U.S. to an ECS partially overlaps with many existing claims, such as the Canadian and Bahamian; furthermore, the Mariana Islands claim overlaps with a Japanese claim too. Moreover, according to the U.S. State Department, agreements have been formed with Cuba, Mexico, and the Russian Federation. Adding on to that, the Beaufort Sea dispute between the United States and Canada could also cause delimitation issues in the claim.
CONCLUSION
America has gained huge strategic leverage with this extended continental shelf by increasing its area. It has access to and rights to the seabeds and vital habitats in the increased area, along with the right to mine the seabed for important and rare minerals and oils. It is visible how the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is still relevant and how many countries are using it to expand their territories.
BY NANDITA LATA
TEAM GEOSTRATA