Round-up Release

Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf Concludes Twenty-Seventh session

NEW YORK, 29 April (United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea/DOALOS) — The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (the “Commission”) held its twenty-seventh session at United Nations Headquarters from 7 March to 21 April 2011, pursuant to the decisions taken at its twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth sessions as well as pursuant to General Assembly resolution 65/37 A.  The plenary part of the session was held from 28 March to 5 April.

During the plenary part of the session, the Commission received presentations of three submissions from the following States:  Mozambique; Maldives; and Denmark in respect of the Faroe-Rockall Plateau Region.

Apart from the work carried out in plenary meetings, the Commission proceeded by way of subcommissions with the technical examination of submissions made by coastal States in accordance with article 76 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.  The subcommissions established for consideration of the submissions made by France in respect of the areas of the French Antilles and the Kerguelen Islands, by Japan, joint submission by Mauritius and Seychelles in respect of the Mascarene Plateau, and submission by Suriname continued their work at the Geographic Information System (GIS) laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs.

The subcommissions established to consider the submissions made jointly by Mauritius and Seychelles in respect of the Mascarene Plateau, and by Suriname submitted their recommendations to the Commission.  The Commission then adopted the “Recommendations of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in regard to the submission made by Indonesia in respect of the area North West of Sumatra on 16 June 2008”, which had been introduced at the previous session (see press release SEA/1946), as well as the “Recommendations of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in regard to the joint submission made by Mauritius and Seychelles concerning the Mascarene Plateau region on 1 December 2008” and the “Recommendations of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in regard to the submission made by Suriname on 5 December 2008”.

The Commission established two new subcommissions to consider the submissions made by Uruguay and by the Philippines in respect of the Benham Rise region.  The Subcommissions held their first meetings at which they elected their officers and proceeded with the initial examination of submitted material.

The Commission continued to discuss the issue of its workload and prepared an informative presentation for a meeting with the Informal Working Group established by the Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to consider the workload of the Commission.  At the meeting, which took place on 5 April 2011, the Commission delivered a presentation on its workload. The presentation is available online at http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/clcs_workload.htm.

The details of the twenty-seventh session are reflected in the statement of the Chairperson of the Commission on the progress of work in the Commission, which will be issued as document CLCS/70.

On 5 April 2011 during the plenary part of the twenty-seventh session, Mr. Tamaki, member of the Commission from Japan, passed away.  Mr. Tamaki had been first elected as a Member of the Commission in 2002 and was re-elected in 2007.  Mr. Tamaki was a distinguished scientist in the field of marine geology and geophysics, focusing on global tectonics and the dynamics of the ocean floor and their relations to the formation of ore deposits on the seafloor.  The Commission expressed its deepest sympathy to the family of Mr. Tamaki and the Government of Japan.

The Commission will resume its twenty-seventh session from 6 to 17 June to allow the subcommission established to examine the submission made by Japan to meet.  The twenty-eighth session of the Commission will be held from 1 August to 9 September 2011, on the understanding that the period from 15 to 26 August would be for plenary meetings and that the periods from 1 to 12 August and from 29 August to 9 September would be used for the technical examination of submissions at the GIS laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division.

For information on the history and purpose of the Commission, see earlier Press Release SEA/1818.  For additional information, please visit the Commission’s website at www.un.org/Depts/los/index.htm.

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For information media • not an official record