Ecuador moves forward with proposal to extend continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Ecuador’s intention to extend the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles is taking shape. Foreign Minister Mauricio Montalvo delivered to the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf the note with preliminary information regarding the areas of interest for the extension.

The meeting was held in New York, the United States, on September 20, 2021. With this action, Ecuador intends to move forward.

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Yesterday, September 20, the country’s Foreign Minister, together with Cristian Espinosa, Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, in the 76th UN General Assembly framework, delivered the note with Preliminary Information to the Commission on the Commission Limits of the Continental Shelf.

The document was prepared by the Committee for the Outer Limit of the Ecuadorian Continental Shelf (Clepce), chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The delivery of this document will allow Ecuador to continue making submissions for the extension of the continental shelf, even after the ten years initially established in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Convemar), which will be completed in 2022.

Currently, the partial presentation corresponding to the southern flank of the Carnegie Ridge is being prepared. In the following years, the studies for the extensions in the western Cocos and Colon Ranges will be carried out.

These inputs will be helpful in the dissemination of the presentation that constitutes an essential step in defense of maritime sovereignty and the interests of the country. The extension of the outer limit of the continental shelf is possible thanks to the fact that Ecuador has been part of the Convemar since 2012.

On December 16, 2020, the “Joint Partial Submission of Information and Data on the Outer Limit of the Continental Shelf of the Republic of Costa Rica and the Republic of Ecuador in the Panama Basin” was submitted to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), in accordance with Part VI and Annex II of the Convention on the Law of the Sea.

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