Canada, Denmark reach tentative agreement on decades-long Arctic waters dispute

The solid black line is the boundary agreed in the 1973 treaty. The broken black line is the boundary agreed ad referendum. The broken blue lines indicate 200-nautical-mile zones.

1. Lincoln Sea
2. Nares Strait
3. Baffin Bay
4. Davis Strait
5. Labrador Sea

After nearly four decades of dispute surrounding a small, unclaimed area of Arctic waters, Canada and Denmark have reached a tentative agreement regarding the Lincoln Sea.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, Leona Aglukkaq, Canadian federal minister responsible for the Arctic Council, and Danish Foreign Affairs Minister Villy S?vndal tentatively agreed on where to establish the maritime border in the disputed Lincoln Sea, located north of Canada?s Ellesmere Island and Denmark, at a meeting in Ottawa Wednesday.

In 1973, a maritime border was established between Canada and Greenland up to, but not including, a small 65-nautical-mile section of the Lincoln Sea. In later negotiations, the two countries agreed that a boundary in the Sea should be an equidistant line but did not finalize the technicalities of that line.

At the meeting Wednesday, negotiators from both countries agreed to a boundary north of the Lincoln Sea. The boundary essentially divides the Sea down the middle and extends Ellesmere Island and Greenland?s boundary 200 nautical miles north of their Arctic coasts into the Lincoln Sea.

According to a press release Wednesday, the tentative agreement will work to modernize the 1973 treaty and set the stage for a new treaty which, once ratified, will establish a shared boundary more than 1,600 nautical miles long between Canada and Greenland.

?Our government is pleased with the progress made on the Lincoln Sea boundary,? said Baird. ??Today?s tentative agreement lessens uncertainty and strengthens Canada?s sovereignty over the Arctic.?

S?vndal also welcomed the tentative agreement, adding that the resolution of ?boundary issues is a priority for both our countries and is articulated in our respective Arctic strategies.?

However, the tentative agreement does not address sovereignty over the disputed Hans Island, a 1.3-square-kilometre rock island between Ellesmere Island and Greenland. Both Canada and Greenland currently make claims to the island, which is essentially divided in half by the maritime border. After a 1973 mapping decision that left the island?s ownership up for grabs, the debate continues today.

While talks regarding Hans Island were anticipated at Wednesday?s meeting, no decisions regarding the ultimate ownership of the island were made. According to the press release, ?that issue is the subject of continuing discussion intended to arrive at a mutually satisfactory solution.?

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Source: http://www.ipolitics.ca/2012/11/28/canada-denmark-reach-tentative-agreement-on-decades-long-arctic-waters-dispute/

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