CLAIMING OUR EXTENDED CONTINENTAL SHELF

According to Bard AI, the extended continental shelf (ECS) refers to the portion of the continental shelf that extends beyond the 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of a coastal state. In other words, it is the underwater landmass that continues past a country’s existing maritime borders. The legal basis for defining and acknowledging both the EEZ and the ECS is derived from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Because of that, there should be no problem in asserting our own ECS claims, not unless some errant states would also file counter claims that would certainly be baseless. Russia, Australia and Brazil have some of the biggest ECS claims, with 7.0, 5.6 and 4.5 million sq. km. respectively. The United States of America (USA) has already established its ECS claim at 1.0 million sq. km. There is a possibility however that the USA claim could go as high as 5.1 million sq. km., thus making their new territory slightly bigger than Alaska. The USA claim is being handled by the US Department of State, the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). That gives us an idea that our task force for our own ECS claim should be led by our Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the National Mapping and Resource Information Agency (NAMRIA) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). IKE SENERES/02-26-2024