The outer continental shelf in the Asia-Pacific Region: Progress and prospects

With the approach of 13 May 2009 - the deadline for submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (hereinafter CLCS or the Commission) on outer continental shelf areas applicable to many coastal states - coastal states around the world were striving to gather the complex scientific and technical information needed for a submission regarding areas of continental shelf seaward of their 200-nautical-mile limits. As the deadline loomed, scarcely a week, if not day, passed without a fresh submission being lodged with the Commission. As of 8 June 2009, the CLCS had received 51 submissions (some either joint or partial in nature), while 43 sets of prelimlinaiy information had been lodged by coastal states.