Posted on 09/22/2007 9:57:39 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
The new British empire? UK plans to annex south Atlantic
Owen Bowcott Saturday September 22, 2007 The Guardian
Britain is preparing territorial claims on tens of thousands of square miles of the Atlantic Ocean floor around the Falklands, Ascension Island and Rockall in the hope of annexing potentially lucrative gas, mineral and oil fields, the Guardian has learned. The UK claims, to be lodged at the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, exploit a novel legal approach that is transforming the international politics of underwater prospecting.
Britain is accelerating its process of submitting applications to the UN - which is fraught with diplomatic sensitivities, not least with Argentina - before an international deadline for registering interests.
Relying on detailed geological and geophysical surveys by scientists and hydrographers, any state can delineate a new "continental shelf outer limit" that can extend up to 350 miles from its shoreline. Data has been collected for most of Britain's submissions and Chris Carleton, head of the law of the sea division at the UK Hydrographic Office and an international expert on the process, said preliminary talks on Rockall are being held in Reykjavik, Iceland, next week. Mr Carleton believes the Falklands claim has the most potential for acrimonious political fallout. Britain and Argentina fought over the islands 25 years ago, and the value of the oil under the sea in the region is understood to be immense: seismic tests suggest there could be up to 60m barrels under the ocean floor.
Britain has been granted licences for exploratory drilling around the islands within the normal 200-mile exploration limit and any new claim to UNCLCS would extend territorial rights further into the Atlantic.
"It would be beyond the 200-mile limit but less than 350 miles," said Mr Carleton,
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Is nutty Charles on the loose again?
“The Scots as always are grumbling again.”
Yeah, they should just shut up and continue to wear that hundreds of years old yoke. The British hounded my forefathers through the Highlands and eventually out of our homeland. Now the P.C. crazy Brits are dragging Scotland into their nightmarish vision of the future. I hope they break from the crown and follow the lead of the Irish.
It is a truly sorry state to see my ancestral homeland in
“Caisteal Foulis na théine”
Sadly you could be right. However, that was said about Ireland as well. It has taken them a while, but they have damned their naysayers. Look at them now. The economic engine of English speaking Europe.
“Caisteal Foulis na théine” You’re a Munro then?
“Per Mare Per Terras”
Sorry Brits. That all belongs to us.
Why?
Because I'm an American and I said so, that's why.
The "Ridge" the Russians keep claiming happens also to be attached to Canada, so it will be interesting to see why the other argument isn't equally valid, that Canada owns the undewater ocean floor up to the Aisan Continental shelf...
Wouldn’t it be glorious if they did. Am also of Scottish blood and a little Irish thrown in just to liven up the mix.
Just saying.
Well, then, they shoulda stuck a Danish name on it a long time ago...
Just saying.
I was told by a lady that Scotsmen have mightily impressive dirks.
*cough*
‘The British hounded my forefathers through the Highlands and eventually out of our homeland.’
The scots are British - scotland is part of Britain, therefore they must’ve hounded themselves! Which is exactly what they did, clan on clan while the English watched.
‘I hope they break from the crown and follow the lead of the Irish.’
Speaking as an Englishman, I concur completely. The sooner England can be rid of the people’s socialist republic of Jockland the better. Without Scots Labour votes, the Conservatives would have won every election in England since World War 2.
Sadly the scottish nationalists. despite wanting independence, despise free-market America so much instead of electing their own president, they have asked if they can keep HM the Queen as head of state and stay in the commonwealth! :(
Perhaps you could make them the 51st state of the union and the first entirely socialist state of the union? :)
‘Sorry Brits. That all belongs to us.
Why?
Because I’m an American and I said so, that’s why.’
LOL! You want to get yourself some decent land borders before you start worrying about extending your sea borders into British territories! :)
Hey, the guy who gave us the Canadian-American border was drunk at the time. Legally all of Canada belongs to us, as does the Atlantic Ocean. ;-)
‘The economic engine of English speaking Europe.’
LOL! The whole of the Republic of Ireland has half the population of the city of London and has a GDP of $180bn compared to $480bn for just the city of London.
Their growth since the EU started pouring euros into them has been impressive, but they are still very small potatoes globally speaking.
‘Hey, the guy who gave us the Canadian-American border was drunk at the time. Legally all of Canada belongs to us, as does the Atlantic Ocean. ;-)’
I seem to recall your govt starting a war in 1812 to cover up the fact that it was bankrupt which hoped to change the Canadian border, but failed! :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.