and State Relations member Kathy Kesolei on the status of the negotiations and claim application of the Republic of Palau of its continental shelf in accordance to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), specifically Article 76.
The briefing began with a statement by the Minister of State on a brief history of the Extended Continental Shelf (eCS) that was established by Executive Order 243 and further mandated the Minister of Resources and Developments to take the lead of the program. On May 4, 2009, another Executive Order No. 261 was issued transferring the mechanism of the eCS to the Ministry of State.According to Minister Pierantozzi, Republic of Palau have submitted its claim application to the United Nations of its extended continental shelf that claims three regions that include the north area, west area and the southeast area and encompasses approximately 108,000 square miles and extends to Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. The importance of the extended continental shelf is that it will allow the Republic of Palau to officially assert its claim on oil, gas, mineral deposits and methane hydrates.It was established during the briefing that the application for Palau’s claim is now before the United Nations and will take about five years to conclude the process. Palau is also required to get into a dialogue or negotiations with adjacent countries to ascertain their extended continental shelf boundaries. Currently, eCS Task force is preparing itself to talk with neighboring countries on delineation of the shared continental shelf.The briefing concluded on a positive note with members of the House of Delegates congratulating the Task Force for its exceptional work and offered them any assistance that the House of Delegates can provide including a legislation that will further define Palau’s maritime boundaries baselines.
