Bangladesh wins sea claim battle with Myanmar

Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said Wednesday that the U.N.’s International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea has recognized the South Asian nation’s claims to a full 200-mile (320-kilometer) Exclusive Economic Zone in the Bay of Bengal. The verdict issued Wednesday in Hamburg, Germany, settled a long-standing dispute between Bangladesh and neighboring Myanmar. Bangladesh, angry over Myanmar’s claim of rights to the disputed sea area, filed the case with the tribunal in 2009. Myanmar had claimed that its maritime boundary with Bangladesh cut directly across the Bangladesh coastline, severely limiting Bangladesh’s maritime jurisdiction to a narrow wedge of sea extending about 130 miles (200 kilometers). Myanmar, which shares a 170-mile (275-kilometer) of land border with Bangladesh, also claimed that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction to award continental shelf rights beyond 200 miles (321 kilometers) from either state’s coast. But the tribunal rejected both of these arguments. “The judgment is final and without appeal,” Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said in a statement. The verdict is seen as an opportunity for energy-starved Bangladesh, which is seeking new sources of gas amid a forecast that its current reserves will run out by 2014-15. Last year, Bangladesh signed a production-sharing contract with U.S. energy giant ConocoPhillips to explore for gas in the virtually unexplored deep waters of the Bay of Bengal, but its area of exploration was limited because of the maritime dispute with Myanmar and India. In 2008, Myanmar escorted South Korean gas exploration company Daewoo International Corp. into waters also claimed by Bangladesh. Both countries deployed their navies and ended the standoff with top-level diplomacy. A similar case is pending with the tribunal over disputed waters with India. The verdict of that case is expected in 2014.