The United States Announcement on Extended Continental Shelf Outer Limits: Implications for the Asia-Pacific?

On 19 December 2023, the United States Department of State issued an Announcement concerning the outer limits of the continental shelf in areas beyond 200 nautical miles (M) of the coast (the U.S. Announcement), three of which are in the Asia-Pacific region. This article provides the spatial scope of the areas within the limits of the U.S. continental shelf beyond 200 M located in the Asia-Pacific region and examines the implications of the U.S. Announcement for the entitlement of continental shelf beyond 200 M of other Asia-Pacific States. The article briefly describes the requirement for establishing the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 M in keeping with Article 76 of the 1982 United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea ( unclos ). The U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Project is then described before the legal issues arising for a non-State Party to unclos are discussed.