Dhaka for peaceful use of the oceans

Dhaka laid emphasis on the peaceful use of the oceans and the protection and preservation of the marine environment.

“As a party to UNCLOS, Bangladesh has always emphasised the peaceful use of the oceans, the equitable and efficient utilisation of the resources, the conservation of the living resources, and the protection and preservation of the marine environment,” said Khurshed Alam, secretary of the Maritime Affairs Unit of the Ministry of  Foreign Affairs.

He is leading the Bangladesh delegation at the 28th Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which is being held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, said a foreign ministry press release yesterday.

The meeting has been attended by delegations from almost all the States Parties to the UNCLOS.

During the session on the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), Khurshed Alam stated that the Commission has considered as many as 13 submissions made by several states during the year in review, yet Bangladesh could not know when its submissions will come up for review.

The Bangladesh delegation informed the meeting that it had submitted its most significant claim on the extended Continental Shelf to the CLCS on February 25, 2011 within the deadline as per the UNCLOS. It completed the outstanding obligation of Bangladesh as per article 76 of the UNCLOS 1982 in submitting scientific and technical information to the CLCS in support of its claim to the Extended Continental Shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

The delegation made explicitly clear to the CLCS that uncertainty in forming a sub-commission for Bangladesh poses serious problems: firstly, in preserving the institutional memory and secondly, keeping the sophisticated software used for storing these highly sensitive data updated.

Bangladesh requested the commission to come up with the best possible efficient way to address the workload so that the sub-commission on Bangladesh's submission is formed within shortest possible time.

Bangladesh also congratulated the special chamber established under the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in adjudicating the dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean which successfully delivered its judgment on September 23, 2017.

Bangladesh also requested the tribunal to ensure appropriate representation of the LDCs and the SIDS in the training programmes and internship programmes that take place under the auspices of the tribunal.