Update on Ieodo

Hamburg,  14 March 2012.  At a public sitting held today, the  International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea  rendered its judgment in the  Dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal (Bangladesh/Myanmar). The Judgment was read by  Judge  José Luis Jesus,
who is presiding over the Tribunal in this case.
The dispute concerns the delimitation of the maritime  boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal with respect to the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf. It is the first case of the Tribunal relating to the delimitation of maritime boundaries. Proceedings in the case  were instituted before the Tribunal on 14 December 2009. Further to the filing of written pleadings by the Parties, the hearing took place in September 2011. In its judgment, the Tribunal had to address a number of issues raised by the Parties. Those included: the  claim made by Bangladesh that the delimitation of the territorial sea had already been agreed by the Parties in 1974; and the delimitation of
the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf within 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.  In addition,  the
Tribunal had to deal with the request of Bangladesh that the continental shelf beyond
200 nautical miles limit be delimited, a request which was opposed by Myanmar. The
Tribunal  then  had  to  decide whether it  could and should exercise its  jurisdiction  in
respect of the delimitation of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical limits.
This ruling is good news for S. Korea because Ieodo is much closer to Korea (148 km) while China is at least 247 km far from Ieodo.