Page 132 - MDSL Final

MARITIME DOCTRINE OF SRI LANKA
The Continental Shelf

The legal concept of the Continental Shelf (CS) has evolved over the last
sixty years. A 1945 Proclamation by President Truman first asserted a
US claim to resources of its CS. This proclamation set a precedent for
other coastal nations to assert similar claims over resources far from
their shores. The need to establish greater uniformity was one of the
driving forces behind the 1958 United Nations Convention on the CS.
However, the 1958 Convention showed limited vision, defining the CS. 69

The LOSC generally defines the CS for purposes of international law as the
seafloor and subsoil that extend beyond the territorial sea throughout
the natural prolongation of a coastal nation’s land mass to the outer
edge of the continental margin or to 200nm from the baseline, if the
continental margin does not extend that far. The legal definition of the
CS thus overlaps geographically with the EEZ. Where a coastal nation
can demonstrate that its continental margin extends beyond 200nm,
the LOSC has a complex process for asserting such claims internationally.
The CS of a Coastal State shall not extent beyond the limits provided for
Article 76 Paragraph 4 to 6 of LOSC in addition to the Annex II of the final
convention. 70

Sri Lanka’s request on extension of CS in accordance with Article 76
of LOSC, a special method of establishing maritime boundaries for
countries south of the Bay of Bengal has been formulated during the
Third United Nations Conference of the Law of the Sea held in 1982.
This special method has been incorporated in the Annex II of the final
convention with the following criteria:

• Delineated a line by reference to the outer most fixed points
at each of which the thickness of the sedimentary rock is at
least one percent of the shortest distance from the point of
the foot of the continental slope
• Delineate a line by reference to fixed points not more than
60nm from foot of the continental slope.

It is generally understood that Sri Lanka can satisfy the above criteria and
use Annex-II to delimit its outer edge of continental margin. Sri Lanka

114 To Nurture a Stable Environment at Sea