Ecuador marks a new milestone in the process of defining and expanding the outer limits of its continental shelf

An Ecuadorian delegation presented in a reserved session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLPC) of the United Nations, the fundamentals, based on the Convention on the Law of the Sea (Convemar), for the definition of the outer limit of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, corresponding to the southern flank of the Carnegie Range. It happened on August 11.

The Ecuadorian delegation headed by the Undersecretary of Sovereignty and Neighborhood Relations, Augusto Saá, was made up of officials from the Foreign Ministry, the Representation of Ecuador before the United Nations and officers from the Ecuadorian Navy.

The presentation made, corresponding to the extension of the southern region of the Carnegie submarine mountain range, complies with the provisions of the Convemar and the requirements of the CLPC to extend the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, which will grant Ecuador sovereign rights over the natural resources of the soil and subsoil of a wide area of ​​enormous marine and mineral wealth.

This is the second presentation that Ecuador makes before the CLPC in pursuit of defining the outer limits of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, the first being the one made jointly with Costa Rica, on March 1, 2022, which corresponded to the northern region of the Carnegie Range.

Ecuador and Chile officially launch a new Trade Integration Agreement

Background

Ecuador adhered to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Convemar) in 2012, which has allowed it to undertake and advance in the process of defining and extending the outer limit of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, and today marks a new and transcendental milestone in said process.

Finally, it is important to remember that, in September 2021, Ecuador presented to the Division of Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea -DOALOS- of the United Nations, an informative note regarding the areas of interest to extend the continental shelf of Ecuador beyond of 200 nautical miles, which will allow Ecuador to continue making presentations to the CLPC in the coming years, corresponding to the submerged mountain ranges of Colón and Coco Oeste.