| When President Harry S. Truman issued a proclamation in 1945 that claimed an exclusive right of the United States to exploit the resources of the seabed and subsoil of its continental shelf, he heralded a new era of national interest in the oceans. The American measure set a policy that was quickly followed by many other states of the world, and as a result, the exclusive jurisdiction of coastal states over the resources in their offshore continental shelves has become one of the generally settled issues of international law of the sea. Less clear, however, are the rules that govern the delineation of the boundaries on the shelf between adjacent and opposite states. Different interpretations of rather ambiguous rules has led to friction between several... |
