127 / 532
111
WHAT IS THE LEGAL REGIME OF THE ARCTIC?
Ridge
. On 2 August 2007 a Russian mini-submarine placed a Russian flag on the seabed
under the North Pole as a symbolic support for the Russian claim which was submitted
to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in 2001. In the submission
of 2001 one of the central issues is a Russian claim to the underwater ridge lying under
the North Pole – the Lomonosov Ridge and Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge as extensions of the
Eurasian continent.
71
As mentioned above, the Commission neither refused nor accepted
the Russian submission but recommended further research. Russia hoped the newest
geological findings would lead the Commission to come to a different conclusion.
The possible delineation of the continental shelf in respect to the Lomonosov Ridge
and Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge depends on the interpretation of the terms
ridge
and
elevation
in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. As Heidar
72
states, it is
not easy to distinguish between submarine elevations and submarine ridges, because the
Convention on the Law of the Sea does not contain their definition. Article 76 of the
Convention, however, contains three different terms. In Article 76, paragraph 3 there
is the term
oceanic ridge
. There is a negative definition which says that the continental
margin
does not include
the deep ocean floor with
its oceanic ridges
or the subsoil thereof.
The other term is
submarine ridge
. From Article 76, paragraph 6 of the Convention
follows that
submarine ridge
could, according to Benitah, be
included
73
in the
continental shelf. The outer limit of the continental shelf, however, does not exceed
350 nautical miles, from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. Heidar
74
has a different opinion, claiming that submarine ridge is
not a natural component of
the continental margin
.
The third term is
submarine elevation
, which is used in the second sentence of
Article 76, paragraph 6. According to this regulation, „this paragraph does not apply to
submarine elevations that are natural components of the continental margin, such as
its plateaux, rises, caps, banks and spurs“. Submarine elevation is a natural component
of the margin and can be of oceanic or continental origin. What is required, however,
is the natural prolongation,
i.e.
continuity of morphologic and geologic origin and
history of the rocks of the landmass of the dry land of the coastal state.
75
It is understood that for the submarine elevation the limitation
76
of 350 nautical
miles contained in the first sentence of this paragraph will not apply. Points on this
submarine elevation beyond the limit of 350 nautical miles
should be included into
the continental shelf
and the regulation about the 100 nautical miles beyond the
depth of 2500m should be used
77
. There is a possibility that the above mentioned
Russian claim is based on understanding the ridges as being
submarine elevation
71
Benitah, M.,
op. cit.
72
Heidar, T. H., The Legal Regime of the Arctic Ocean.
Zeitschrift fur auslandisches offentliches Recht und
Volkerrecht
, 2009, 69/3, p. 637.
73
Benitah. M.,
op. cit.
74
Heidar, T. H.,
op. cit., p. 638.
75
Ibid.
76
Benitah, M.,
op. cit.
A similar idea is presented by Wolfrum, R.,
op. cit.
, p. 538.
77
Ibid.