PNG submits maritime boundary charts to UN

PAPUA New Guinea has submitted to the United Nations charts of the maritime boundaries for its deposits.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Rimbink Pato signed the maritime boundaries charts last month in Port Moresby, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“This is timely and critical as it provides PNG’s maritime claims over its extended continental shelf,” he said.
The charts will address issues such as maritime border security, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, climate change and “negotiations at the UN on a legally-binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond the national jurisdiction”.
“The boundaries show adequately the extent of the maritime zones of PNG. It is important for the protection and strengthening of PNG’s sovereignty and jurisdiction in its maritime zones,” said the Foreign Minister.
It is the outcome of the national maritime boundaries delimitation project carried out over almost 13 years.
It includes the enactment of the Maritime Zones Act 2015 and development of six maritime boundaries charts and a list of geographical coordinates which establish new territorial seas baselines and the maritime limits for PNG.
PNG’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Max Hufanen Roi said the maritime boundaries instruments to the UN was received by Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and UN Legal Counsel.