Norway's Continental Shelf and the Boundary Question on the Seabed

Abstract

One of the most important problems that should be solved at the UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, is that of determining the exact boundary between the continental shelf, where coastal states have exclusive rights of exploration and exploitation of resources, and the deep seabed, which is to be an international area and the common heritage of mankind.

With her long coastline and the generally very broad continental shelf lying off it, Norway is one of the countries which, both relatively and absolutely, have the greatest interest attached to their national seabed territories. However, the Norwegian con tinental shelf differs rather significantly from the 'international norm'. Thus, large parts of the Norwegian shelf lie at greater depths than is normal off other countries. Also, the Norwegian shelf is exceptionally broad, especially in the north, where it has a width of more than 1,000 kilometers from the coast of Finnmark to the edge fronting the deep waters of the Arctic Ocean. Because of these extreme conditions, Norway could be adversely affected if an international agreement for a fixed boundary to the extent of the dominion of the coastal state over the seabed were to be based on global averages. Such an outcome to the negotiations taking place within the framework of the UN Conference on the Law of the Sea could be especially disadvantageous on the Norwegian shelf, where a narrowly-drawn boundary could, at worst, lead to a partition of the shelf between Norway and Svalbard (Spitsbergen). With the international agree ment which applies to the Svalbard islands, and the special security policy situation which exists in the northern region, such a partition would be most unfortunate for Norway. The Norwegian 'problem' in the seabed issue arises because Norway nego tiates from a position marked by extreme natural conditions and against the back ground of a security policy situation which makes the country especially dependent on a favorable outcome.