Canada launches expedition in support of continental shelf application
© RIA Novosti. Ekaterina Chesnokova

Canada launches expedition in support of continental shelf application

The Government of Canada has launched an expedition to collect information to support the country's application to extend its continental shelf in the Arctic, RIA Novosti reports, citing a statement on the Government of Canada's official website.

"Our Government is proud to support this important research to gather necessary data to help determine the outer limits of Canada's continental shelf," Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Jim Carr said.

The survey expedition will be implemented in cooperation with Swedish and Danish scientists. Expedition ships will sail from the Norwegian port of Tromso and will arrive in Canada six weeks later.  

On July 14, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Sergei Donskoi said that Russia planned to hold extra talks with Denmark and Canada on the disputed issues of expanding Russia's continental shelf in the Arctic.

"We have disputes with Denmark. It has presented its view on the Arctic shelf, which contradicts our claims. Anyway, we plan to hold talks with Denmark and Canada on the disputed issues," Mr. Donskoi said. "We have received related communications from the other countries, which state that they do not oppose our effort to submit a claim, and we'll start working on it."

Earlier this year, Russia submitted a claim to the UN to expand its Arctic shelf boundaries. Russia seeks to expand its continental shelf in the Arctic by 1.2 million square kilometers. It could take between three and five years to consider the claim by the related UN commission.