Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf Concludes Thirty-Fourth Session

At Headquarters, 27 January-13 March

 

NEW YORK, 18 March 2014 (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs) ― The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf held its thirty-fourth session at United Nations Headquarters from 27 January to 14 March 2014.  Besides the two weeks of plenary meetings (10 to 14 February and 10 to 14 March), the Commission, working through its subcommissions, devoted five weeks to the technical examination of submissions at the Geographic Information Systems laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division.

The Commission considered and adopted, by consensus, two sets of recommendations with regard to the partial revised submissionmade by the Russian Federation in respect of the Sea of Okhotsk and the partial submission by Denmark in respect of the area north of the Faroe Islands.

Also, during the session, two subcomissions completed their work and transmitted to the Commission two sets of recommendations concerning the submission of Ghana as well as the submission made by Iceland in respect of the Ægir Basin area and in the western and southern parts of Reykjanes Ridge.

The following recently received submissions were presented by the respective delegations before the plenary of the Commission: submission of Nicaragua in respect of the south-western part of the Caribbean Sea; and submission of the Federated States of Micronesia in respect of the Eauripik Rise.

In order to advance in its work, the Commission established four new subcommissions to consider the submission by South Africa in respect of the mainland of the territory of the Republic of South Africa; the joint submission by the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands concerning the Ontong Java plateau; the joint submission by France and South Africa in the area of the Crozet Archipelago and the Prince Edward Islands; and the submission by Mauritius in the region of Rodrigues Island.

Five other previously established subcommissions continued their work during the thirty-fourth session and met with the respective delegations.  These were the subcommissions established for consideration of the submissions made by Uruguay, Cook Islands concerning the Manihiki Plateau, Argentina, Pakistan and Norway in respect of Bouvetøya and Dronning Maud Land.

Details of the thirty-fourth session will be reflected in the statement by the Chairperson of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on the progress of work in the Commission, which will be issued as document CLCS/83.

The thirty-fifth session will be held from 21 July to 5 September 2014.  The plenary parts of the session will be held from 4 to 8 August and 2 to 5 September 2014.  The thirty-sixth session will be held from 13 October to 28 November 2014, with no plenary meetings.

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For information media • not an official record