intrinsic limitations of collecting data in a venture of that magnitude. The study
found that “the major resource potential within the ELCS [extended legal continental
shelf] regions is held in iron-manganese nodules and crusts, conventional oil and
gas, and gas hydrates”,
15 scientists arriving at the estimated sum of approximately
US$ 10 trillion in commercial value.
16 Even if some of those resources remain
uncompetitive in relation to land-based ones in the mid-term, except for hydrocarbons, their commercial value is not expected to reduce (again, provided there will not
be a technological revolution which dismisses the precious minerals currently
employed in all kinds of industries worldwide).
Abundance of mineral riches on the ocean floor beyond 200 nm has been a stark
argument pro-ratification of UNCLOS within the United States. Then and again, the
American government has been blamed for neglecting the “immense value” of
marine resources occurring beyond the country’s EEZ by not ratifying the Convention. According to some, the United States would be voluntarily and irrationally
embracing blurred jurisdiction and legal uncertainty, both disincentives for economic investments in exploitation that far offshore.
17 Moreover, “in many coastal
nations, the development of outer continental shelf oil and gas resources is a part of
government’s commitment to encourage the economically and environmentally
sound expansion of diverse energy resources”.
18 That has been the case in countries
such as the United States, Norway, Canada, Brazil, among others, albeit in a still
inchoate stage.
Apart from oil and gas, there are also non-hydrocarbon resources, such as seafloor
massive sulfide deposits and hydrothermal systems, which may offer viable commercial exploitation in the coming decades. Deep-sea hydrothermal vents have
attracted significant market interest in recent years due to their tendency to host
rich deposits of valuable metals. However, vent sites also concentrate endemic and
fragile biota that might be damaged, if not eliminated, by mining operations in or
around them. Exploitation of exploitation of sulfide deposits is underway in the
Southern Pacific Ocean, where Pacific Island States, such as Papua New Guinea,
have agreed with mining companies, such as Nautilus Minerals Inc., of Canada, on
15 Murton et al. (2001), p. 7.
16 The precise commercial value of deep-sea resources is quite hard to grasp, as the ISA Study itself
works with contradicting numbers. First, in the introduction, it highlights the sum of US$ 10,328
trillion, p. 7. However, the concluding remarks close with the estimated amount of US$ 11,934
trillion. The Report collected data from the London Metal Exchange (LME), the United Stated
Geological Survey (USGS) and the Oil and Gas Journal (OGJ), from the turn of the millennium. See
Id. (2001), p. 53.
17 Thomas Donoghue on the resource potentiality of the outer continental shelf and the benefits for
the United Stated in ratifying UNCLOS: “immense value of the resources that would be made
subject to the United States’ exclusive sovereign jurisdiction”. Donoghue (2012), US Senate, 5.
18 Kelly (2004), p. 413.
50
3 The Continental Shelf Beyond 200 nm: Innovations in Art. 76 UNCLOS
found that “the major resource potential within the ELCS [extended legal continental
shelf] regions is held in iron-manganese nodules and crusts, conventional oil and
gas, and gas hydrates”,
15 scientists arriving at the estimated sum of approximately
US$ 10 trillion in commercial value.
16 Even if some of those resources remain
uncompetitive in relation to land-based ones in the mid-term, except for hydrocarbons, their commercial value is not expected to reduce (again, provided there will not
be a technological revolution which dismisses the precious minerals currently
employed in all kinds of industries worldwide).
Abundance of mineral riches on the ocean floor beyond 200 nm has been a stark
argument pro-ratification of UNCLOS within the United States. Then and again, the
American government has been blamed for neglecting the “immense value” of
marine resources occurring beyond the country’s EEZ by not ratifying the Convention. According to some, the United States would be voluntarily and irrationally
embracing blurred jurisdiction and legal uncertainty, both disincentives for economic investments in exploitation that far offshore.
17 Moreover, “in many coastal
nations, the development of outer continental shelf oil and gas resources is a part of
government’s commitment to encourage the economically and environmentally
sound expansion of diverse energy resources”.
18 That has been the case in countries
such as the United States, Norway, Canada, Brazil, among others, albeit in a still
inchoate stage.
Apart from oil and gas, there are also non-hydrocarbon resources, such as seafloor
massive sulfide deposits and hydrothermal systems, which may offer viable commercial exploitation in the coming decades. Deep-sea hydrothermal vents have
attracted significant market interest in recent years due to their tendency to host
rich deposits of valuable metals. However, vent sites also concentrate endemic and
fragile biota that might be damaged, if not eliminated, by mining operations in or
around them. Exploitation of exploitation of sulfide deposits is underway in the
Southern Pacific Ocean, where Pacific Island States, such as Papua New Guinea,
have agreed with mining companies, such as Nautilus Minerals Inc., of Canada, on
15 Murton et al. (2001), p. 7.
16 The precise commercial value of deep-sea resources is quite hard to grasp, as the ISA Study itself
works with contradicting numbers. First, in the introduction, it highlights the sum of US$ 10,328
trillion, p. 7. However, the concluding remarks close with the estimated amount of US$ 11,934
trillion. The Report collected data from the London Metal Exchange (LME), the United Stated
Geological Survey (USGS) and the Oil and Gas Journal (OGJ), from the turn of the millennium. See
Id. (2001), p. 53.
17 Thomas Donoghue on the resource potentiality of the outer continental shelf and the benefits for
the United Stated in ratifying UNCLOS: “immense value of the resources that would be made
subject to the United States’ exclusive sovereign jurisdiction”. Donoghue (2012), US Senate, 5.
18 Kelly (2004), p. 413.
50
3 The Continental Shelf Beyond 200 nm: Innovations in Art. 76 UNCLOS