Thursday, 16 September 2010 07:58
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Attempts to whip up tension in the Arctic are doomed, says the Russian President's point man on international cooperation in the Arctic and the Antarctic Artur Chilingarov. He was speaking at a conference of the Arctic Circle countries' MPs at the European Parliament in Brussels yesterday.
The prominent polar explorer denied the claims that the diving of Russian submersibles to the depth of 4.5 kilometres at the North Pole back in 2007 was a politically charged move. Chilingarov is known to have been part of the effort. The Russian explorer claims that the diving in question was a scientific discovery and suggested that other Arctic Circle nations should follow Russia's example.
At present a Russian geological expedition is using the Academician Fedorov diesel-electric ship to probe into the Arctic seabed. The ongoing exploration is part of an action plan to support Russia's application for legal confirmation of Russia's continental shelf fringe in the Arctic Ocean. The application is due to be submitted to the relevant UN Commission.
The Arctic Circle countries are engaged in tough competition for the right to possess the continental shelf with its inexhaustible mineral wealth, such countries as the United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark. But some Non-Circle countries have likewise taken an interest in the region, namely Iceland, Sweden and Finland. China has set up a research station on Spitsbergen Island.
An international maritime law expert Anatoly Kolodkin says this about Russia's chance of the UN Continental Shelf Commission's granting Moscow's application.
The UN Commission, Anatoly Kolodkin says, has written in its recommendations that Russia needs to submit more convincing and trustworthy evidence that the underwater Lomonosov Ridge and Mendeleev Elevation are the natural continuation of Russia's Siberian shelf. This country has therefore launched a spate of expeditions and some extra exploration to collect more evidence that the ocean bottom is after all the continuation of the Siberian continental platform.
Anatoly Kolodkin feels that Russia's conflicts with other Arctic Circle countries are unlikely if the UN Continental Shelf Commission grants this country's application.
If the Commission accepts Russia's proof, then Russia will establish the shelf border. The UN Maritime Law Convention says that such border is final, that is it will have to be observed not only by Russia, Norway, the United States, but also by all third countries. No nation will be allowed to extract the shelf mineral resources without the coastal nations' agreement, specifically Russia's agreement.
At present the area, disputed by Russia and the neighbouring Arctic Circle states, makes up approximately 200,000 square kilometres. The area shelf may account for more than 2% of the world's oil and gas resources.