Track: Oceanography, Coastal Zone, Marine Resources
GIS Applications to Maritime Boundary Definitions - International Diplomacy on and Under the Sea
Hal PalmerLaura Crenshaw , Lorin Pruett
Under evolving criteria established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, coastal nations continue to redefine their sovereign claims to ocean space. Construction of a global database incorporating both adjudicated and claimed maritime boundaries provides the basis for determining what marine activities are permissible under the UNCLOS articles. Graphic presentation of the location of such boundaries, coupled with attribute tables containing pertinent parameters, qualifications, and references to these limits, permits offshore operators to contact claimants in order to conduct activities that will not be in violation either of UNCLOS articles or the coastal nation's adjudicated claims. MRJ Technology Solutions maintains a global database of maritime boundaries. It incorporates not only limits established through legal channels such as the international Court of Justice and coastal states' national tribunals, but also those claimed but not legally established or resolved. In the case of the latter, disputed or unresolved boundary claims are especially significant to mariners who may be uncertain as to whose waters they may occupy or transit. The database clearly displays areas of overlapping claims and questionable limits and while a disclaimer is necessary in such cases, attribute tables provide pertinent information on the nature and status of the claims. With the increased capability to drill for oil and gas in ever deeper water, at least thirty-three coastal nations can or have redrawn limits to their continental shelves that extend beyond claims to their respective Exclusive Economic Zones - traditionally 200 nautical miles from the actual coast or coastal baselines. As these cases are resolved through the UN's Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, they will be incorporated in the global database as revisions to the outer bounds of national claims to the seabed and its resources.
Hal Palmer
MRJ Tchnology Solutions
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USA
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