The Outer Continental Shelf was first established as a maritime zone under the 1958 Continental Shelf
Convention22 and the concept was continued and clarified in UNCLOS. The continental shelf is in fact a
geographical concept of a submarine area that is a natural prolongation of the land out under the sea.
While the EEZ jurisdiction gives all of the rights that the coastal states may wish over the seabed, subsoil,
water column and air space in the EEZ, the outer continental shelf only gives the coastal states rights
to the natural resources in the seabed and subsoil. Article 76 of UNCLOS sets out the limits of the outer
continental shelf. This is too complex a formula to go into here but in no case may the coastal state’s
claim extend beyond 350 miles from the baselines. 23 It is emphasised that the rights in the outer
continental shelf only relate to the seabed and sub-soil and not the water column as many miss this major
difference. 24 There is a formula for payment of some of the benefits of exploitation of these resources to
developing states. 25 As for the other zones, the Seas and Submerged Lands Act proclaims Australia’s rights
in the outer continental shelf.26 Because the formula for establishing the outer limits of the continental shelf
beyond the EEZ is complex, UNCLOS established a Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
(CLCS) to receive, comment and make recommendations on coastal states’ claims.27 The CLCS received a
claim from Australia, amongst others,28 and most of Australia’s claim was approved in 2009. (Australia’s
claims offshore from the Australian Antarctic Territory remain in contention).