Regional training program on delimitation of continental shelf

The Regional Training Program for Delimitation of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles was declared open by Foreign Affairs Ministry Additional Secretary Ms Geetha de Silva at Hotel Galadari, Colombo, recently in the presence of Vladimir Golitsyn, Director, UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.

This five day training course for the technical experts from twelve countries of the Indian Ocean region was jointly organised by the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea and Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The course is designed to assist participants in the preparation of national claims for submission to the UN Commission on the limits of the continental shelf in terms of the Law of the Sea Convention.

Participants from Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Madasgascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Pakistan, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania and Sri Lanka will attend the course. In her opening statement Ms. de Silva said: "On behalf of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, I would like to extend a most cordial welcome to you all, to Sri Lanka.

I would like to say at the very outset that it is a matter of considerable satisfaction for us that Lanka is co-hosting with the United Nations, this important regional training program for delineation of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

"It is well recognised that the Law of the Sea Convention was formulated with the realisation that all ocean space issues are closely interrelated and constitutes a comprehensive and integral legal regime for a just and equitable use and management of oceans. Throughout the course of the Third United Nations Conference on Law of the Sea, which spanned over a decade, Sri Lanka has played a constructive and creative role.

The pioneering role played by late Ambassador Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe, then Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN who became initially the Chairman of the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-bed Committee and thereafter the President of the Law of the Sea Conference, is part of the history of this unique endeavour.

"It was in this city of Colombo, way back in 1971 during the 12th annual session of the Asian African Legal Consultative Committee, the States of Asia and Africa articulated the need for coastal state resource jurisdiction in areas adjacent to the territorial waters. The legal norms, which emerged from these deliberations were to later crystallise into the novel concept of the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone at the Law of the Sea Conference and now well recognised, as an established principle of Customary International Law.

"I take this opportunity to thank the UN Office of Legal Affairs, in particular the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, for their dedication and cooperation in the preparations leading up to convening of the training course.

Our thanks are also due to Gritakumar Chitty, the former Registrar of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, for his role in facilitating this endeavour.

"I am of course particularly pleased that we have with us such an array of eminent resource persons, including the Chairman and Members of the UN Commission on Continental Shelf and participants who, I am sure, will be able to offer acute insights into the issues of great national interest and importance to us.

"We also wish to extend our appreciation to the Commonwealth Secretariat for their collaboration and assistance in this initiative.

"It is vital to recognise that the Continental Shelf delimitation particularly of countries possessing special geo-physical characteristics such as those in the Bay of Bengal is very vital and immensely beneficial.

"Member states are required to submit their claims by 2009. The time is of the essence in the preparation and submission of our claims.

The task requires both scientific and technical capacity and mobilisation of financial resources.

"These are the challenges that confront developing coastal states. Therefore this type of training session is necessary to enhance the knowledge and skills of the persons engaged in the preparation of submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in conformity with the technical and scientific requirements of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Guidelines issued by the Commission.

"In this context I am also happy to recall the Law of the Sea Conference Resolution on Development of National Marine Science, Technology and Ocean Services, which inter-alia, calls upon all competent international organisations within the United Nations system to expand program within their respective fields of competence for assistance to developing countries in the field of marine science, technology and ocean services.