Faroe Islands submit continental shelf claim

DENMARK AND the Faroe Islands have submitted a claim to the United Nations for a portion of the North Sea continental shelf that is subject to a competing claim by Ireland.

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea requires any state claiming continental shelf in an area that lies more than 200 miles from its shores to submit the claim for consideration by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

The Denmark/Faroe Islands claim stretches 820 nautical miles south of the Faroes. Irelands claim stretches up to 500 nautical miles from the Irish coast.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Ireland claims part of the Hatton-Rockall area of the north-east Atlantic (referred to as the Faroe-Rockall plateau by the Faroe Islands).

Ireland, the UK and Iceland registered their claims at the United Nations last year. It is thought that the UN could take up to two years to adjudicate on the matter.

The spokesman said: “Ireland has already successfully extended its continental shelf beyond 200 miles in the area of the Porcupine abyssal plain.”