Submission for extension of Continental Shelf
MUSCAT -- Any coastal state has the right to extend its continental shelf but has to take the respective steps which the Sultanate is assuring now. At the workshop organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, issues such as Oman's potential area of continental shelf, key challenges for Oman's submission and task specifics data collection were discussed. The nature of the data should prove the right for extension and this requires extensive geological, geophysical and hydrographical information to support the claim. According to the committee, the area that is going to be studied is from Ras Al Hadd to Salalah (the Arabian Sea).
"By the end of this year there will be a contract handed out to conduct the survey but before that, there will be training of the new subcommittee members who will participate in the survey," said oceanographer Dr Adnan Al Azri (pictured), consultant at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Once achieved there could be many benefits such as exploring for oil, gas and mining. It can also be a protection for the environment. Oman's cabinet of ministers had given the green light to start the process in 2008 to establish the committee chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Sultanate submitted preliminary information indicative on the extension of its continental shelf in 2009 to the United Nations Commission on the Limit of Continental Shelf.
"It is a long term project. The target is for three years to submission to the United Nations Commission. After that we wait until our turn comes to defend our submission," added Dr Al Azri. The Oman Continental Shelf Extension Committee's three-day workshop focused on the continental shelf, the submission process, and taking the project forward. The workshop was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the Sultanate of Oman is part of the process of developing a submission to the United Nations Commission on the Limit of Continental Shelf (UNCLCS) in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982.
The continental shelf of a coastal State comprises the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance. The submission for extension can go up to another 150 nautical miles. Members of the Oman Continental Shelf Extension Committee chaired by Ministry of Foreign Affairs are the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Oil and Gas, Ministry of Transport and Communication, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Wealth, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, Ministry of Legal Affairs, Sultan Qaboos University and Royal Oman Police.
© Oman Daily Observer 2014
