Sovereignty of Ocean Resources

Question 1

Mineral Resources

Answer 1

• diamonds off S&W coast of S.Africa and deposits of tin, titanium and gold found along shores of Alaska
• deep sea waters = vast amounts of undiscovered resources including manganese nodules, cobalt crusts and sulphide muds
• currently rarely profitable as extraction is very difficult and expensive and export shipping costs are increasing
• 2014-16, prices of minerals fell due to shrinking demand from China as economic growth slowed, further reducing profitability

Question 2

Fossil fuels

Answer 2

• ocean floors are important for recovery of fossil fuels as important oil and gas reserves are found in shallow and deeper water locations offshore
• Gulf of Mexico oil spill 2010 demonstrates risks of deeper offshore reserves
• states including Australia, china, Brazil, Canada and Norway allow MNCs to drill for oil deep water close to shoreline
• large offshore oil discoveries near Brazil 2006, BP, Total and Statoil rushed to explore Angolas offshore waters where major oil fields found by geologists

Question 3

Geopolitical tensions and conflict

Answer 3

• coastal countries may claim sovereign rights over EEZ territorial limit of 200 nm from shoreline, some EEZs overlap
• sates may own oversea territories and claim EEZ around theses, UK established EEZ around Falkland Islands, war fight in 1982 between UK and Argentina related to maritime disjunction

Question 4

What are the two sources of superpower tensions?

Answer 4

• S.China Sea

- Arctic Ocean

Question 5

The south china sea

Answer 5

• China repeatedly made territorial claims on parts of SCS, contested by other states including the Philippines
• argument based on ownership claim of island groups and surrounding EEZs, some of these islands artificially enlarged by china so they were able to claim larger EEZ
• important energy pathway by passage of oil tankers through waters
• china began to question right of US ships and aircraft to use disputed areas, heightening regional tensions
• UN tribunal, found none of man-made islands were large enough to qualify fro EEZs, china illegally infringed Philippine’s sovereign rights to fish and develop energy resources in its own EEZ
• Phillipines adopted policy of blowing up Chinese fishing vessels intercepting contested parts of SCS

Question 6

Arctic Ocean issues

Answer 6

• tensions recently risen over governance of Arctic Ocean resources competing claims made over waters and resources
• thought to hold ~90 billion tonnes of oil
• 2007, Russia used a submarine to place a flag on the seabed at North Pole, viewed as aggressive geopolitical action
• reduction in tensions after Obama declared area of ocean off limits to exploration
• shell caused operations in Arctic waters as high cost and risk outbalances low market value of oil

Question 7

Landlocked countries and societies

Answer 7

• relative isolation of these countries plays a huge role in economic health due to greater difficulties in trading without coastline

Question 8

Challenges to countries without a coastline

Answer 8

• typically very poor and have low levels of trade
• 8/15 lowest ranking HDI countries have no coastlines, all in Africa
• handicap in moving goods to and from ports
• not benefitted from global migration and cultural idea flows that bought innovations to maritime countries
• exception = Switzerland, major financing centre and many MNC s including UBS, Botswana exports diamonds using global air networks

Question 9

Gaining access and trade of ocean

Answer 9

• under international law, landlocked countries have a right to access ocean via transit states for purpose of ‘freedom of the seas’, may be difficult and expensive to uphold
• Bolivia lost coastline to Chile in 19th century war
• passage becomes full of delays including inspections and poorly maintained roads
• Bolivia’s GDP would be 1/5 higher if it had direct access to sea, but is now poorest country in S.America
• applied to international court of justice in The Hague (Netherlands) to be given sovereign access to the sea, ordering old pacific coastline back

Question 10

Injustices for indigenous People in coastal areas

Answer 10

• many entirely dependent on fishing for livelihood
• new gold-mining development in Alaska, threatened salmon ecosystem with water pollution
• succeeded in stalling mine’s construction, large MNCs pledged to boycott gold