The Delimitation Process in the Central Arctic Seabed: Sovereign Rights or a Condominium or Res Communis Omnium?

Abstract

This paper will start with a brief analysis of the ‘Arctic question’ and the applicable law thereto, it will then proceed by studying the current work of the CLCS on the Arctic seabed and it will conclude with final reflections.

It is important to underline that the aim of this paper is not to deal with the general study of the CLCS legal nature and its functions, nor to be a study of any general definition of the continental shelf nor the general matters related to the establishment of the outer limits of continental shelf beyond national jurisdictions nor, alternatively, rules applicable to the International Seabed Area. Rather, it focuses briefly on the positions and practices of the Arctic coastal States within the ongoing process of delineation of the outer limits of their continental shelves in the Arctic seabed. Namely, it particularly takes into account the seabed under the North Pole (the Lomonosov ridge) rich with energy resources which stretch across the Arctic Ocean and separate the Amerasian Basin from the Eurasian Basin.

Keywords: Arctic Ocean, Continental Shelf; UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf