Pacific islands look to extend ocean sovereignty
By Michael Perry
SYDNEY, May 13 (Reuters) - Eight Pacific islands have a "credible claim" to an extra 1.5 million sq kms (580,000 sq miles) of ocean, giving them exclusive rights to potential oil, gas and biological resources, says a regional organisation.
Fiji, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga and Papua New Guinea have until May 2009 to apply to the United Nations to extend their exclusive territorial and economic zones.
The inter-governmental Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) is staging a meeting of the eight states in Fiji this week to assist them prepare their applications.
SOPAC said the islands, all of them developing nations which rely on tourism, mining, fishing or agriculture, "have a credible claim to more than 1.5 million square kilometres of additional space beyond their current 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone".
The collective 1.5 million sq kms of extra sovereignty represents a swathe of ocean the size of Mongolia, the second largest landlocked nation in the world.
SOPAC said scientific studies have revealed access to an extended continental shelf could mean more access to mineral rich resources for the island states and that assessments had identified strong grounds for the territorial extensions.
"It's the first time the Pacific region is combining their efforts in its bid to extend their exclusive economic zones," SOPAC Director Cristelle Pratt said in a statement received on Tuesday.
Pratt said securing the extended sovereignty was "critical to securing exclusive ocean development of potentially rich non-living resources, such as oil, gas, gold and silver, as well as living organisms that live on and beneath the seabed".
"Securing greater maritime sovereignty can provide increased revenue for Pacific states and deliver significant economic and social benefits," said Pratt.
Australia extended its rights over an extra 2.5 million square kilometres (965,000 sq miles) of seabed in April under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said at the time that Australia, currently self sufficient in oil and gas, needed to find a major new offshore oil source or be forced to import 80 percent of requirements by 2015. (Reporting by Michael Perry: Editing by )
