Chile announces an extended continental shelf to the west of Antarctica

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera announced Wednesday that next January he will present to the United Nations a report that determines an extended continental shelf projecting from the west coast of the Chilean Antarctic territory.

“Today we are fulfilling a new milestone in the exercise of our sovereignty over the land of tomorrow, the Chilean Antarctic territory,” he told the president about the conclusion of the report, which contains the results of 12 years of bathymetric research, scientific and technical studies.

“It is a very transcendent work that demonstrates Chile’s commitment to Antarctica and is proof of our active role in scientific research and conservation in that continent,” he added at the meeting where he announced the report, which was also attended by other authorities, such as the Chilean Foreign Minister, Andrés Allamand, and the Ministers of the Interior and Public Security, Rodrigo Delgado, and of National Defense, Baldo Prokurica, among others.

The continental shelf is the submarine continuation of the continent submerged under the sea.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Convemar) recognizes all States with a coastline have a continental shelf of 200 nautical miles, but in some cases it may exceed this distance, reaching 350 nautical miles or more.

To prove the existence of the continental shelf beyond 200 miles, coastal countries must carry out technical and scientific studies that demonstrate that there is a geomorphological continuity of the continent under the sea.

These must be submitted to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), an entity that must validate what has been exposed.

“The maritime continental shelves are of gigantic importance, particularly in the area of safeguarding biodiversity and in everything that has to do with scientific knowledge of the seabed. And truly, with this, Chile claims that we have a character and that we are a tricontinental country”, explained Allamand.

“We have a position in the South American territory, another in the insular territory around Easter Island and we also have this extended continental shelf in Antarctica,” he added.

The report, which will be presented in the coming weeks and which resulted from measurement work begun in 2009, determines the existence of an extended shelf covering a total of 210,000 square km.

It is in addition to the presentation made by Chile in December last year before the CLCS on the report of the extended continental shelf in the province of Easter Island, which could reach 700 nautical miles (an area of 550,000 square km).

It also adds to the update of Nautical Chart N°8, established last August, which determines the outer limit of the continental shelf of 200 nautical miles from Punta Puga to the Diego Ramirez Islands.