Russia needs half a year to provide evidences that the Lomonosov and Mendeleev ridges really continue its continental shelf.
Photo: Alexander Miridonov
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Russia to Prove Rights for Arctic Shelf in Half a Year
Russia needs half a year to provide evidences that the Lomonosov and Mendeleev ridges really continue its continental shelf, said Anatoly Kolodkin, president of the International Maritime Law Association and judge of the U.N. Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
”I think Russia will be able to provide evidences approximately during a year,” Kolodkin told the reporters Thursday. Russia lodged the first claim for the shelf extension in 2001, Kolodkin reminded. The application was considered in April 2002, but the committee decided that evidences didn’t suffice to support the claim.
”The recent expedition is a brilliant scientific achievement in the chain of discoveries related to the Arctic development,” Kolodkin emphasized.
On August 2, two Mir mini-subs of Russia dived below 4,000 in the Arctic Ocean. They took samples of soil and water to study the seabed structure in the polar region.
According to Kolodkin, the issue of Russia’s shelf extension will be decided based on the international regulations and, therefore, there would be no reasons to aggravate Russia’s relations with other states.
Planting the capsule with Russia’s flag at the North Pole in the seabed, Kolodkin went on, is of pure symbolic nature and has no legal standing.
Moreover, should Russia succeed in proving that the ridges continue its continental shelf, it wouldn’t mean the extension of Russia’s territory, Kolodkin specified.
“The shelf is no part of territory of any state. Coastal states have not the sovereignty but rather the exclusive sovereign rights allowing to conduct survey and develop natural resources,” the official pointed out.
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