VZCZCXRO6582
PP RUEHAP RUEHKN RUEHKR RUEHMJ RUEHNZ RUEHPB
DE RUEHWL #0103 1122242
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 222242Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5843
INFO RUEHAP/AMEMBASSY APIA 0561
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 5500
RUEHKN/AMEMBASSY KOLONIA 0039
RUEHKR/AMEMBASSY KOROR 0029
RUEHMJ/AMEMBASSY MAJURO 0137
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 0844
RUEHSV/AMEMBASSY SUVA 0861
RUEHNZ/AMCONSUL AUCKLAND 1956
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0156
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS WELLINGTON 000103 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES AND EEB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV EMIN PHSA NZ
SUBJECT: COOK ISLANDS GOVERNMENT FILES CLAIM TO CONTINENTAL 
SHELF 
 
¶1.  (U) On April 16, the Cook Islands Government (CIG) 
submitted a claim to the UN Commission on the Limits of the 
Continental Shelf (CLCS) for control of over 400,000 square 
kilometers of the continental shelf underlying its 
surrounding waters and which extends beyond the CI,s 
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).  The claim, if granted, would 
allow the CI to control access to minerals on or under the 
seabed within the claim area.  The authority for the CLCS 
claims process is provided within the UN Convention of the 
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).  Coastal nations may claim the right 
to control resources on or under the continental shelf (an 
undersea prolongation of the landmass) that extends outside 
the EEZ boundary of 200 nautical miles from shore. 
 
Cook Islands Claim May Only Be The Beginning 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) The CIG filed its claim well before the CLCS deadline 
of May 13, 2009 because, according to the CI Deputy Prime 
Minister, of the large number of claims expected to be filed 
from other Pacific Island Countries (PICs).  Gerard Van 
Bohemen, Legal Director for the New Zealand Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and Trade, also expects many PIC claims to be 
filed before the deadline.  To date, however, the only PIC 
claims filed with the CLCS are Fiji (April 20, 2009), the 
Philippines (April 8, 2009), New Caledonia (by France on May 
22, 2007) and New Zealand (April 19, 2006).  New Zealand's 
claim to over 1.6 million square kilometers of its 
continental shelf was approved in large part by the UN on 
August 22, 2008 (though its overlapping claims with Tonga and 
Fiji remain unresolved). 
 
CIG Hopes Claim Will Be Economic Windfall 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) The CIG filed its claim in order to control access to 
a potential wealth of minerals that lie on and under the CI's 
surrounding seabed.  Within the CI's EEZ for example (which 
covers approximately 1.8 million square kilometers), the sea 
floor is littered with metallic nodules consisting of 
manganese, cobalt, nickel and copper.  Of these minerals, 
cobalt is the most valuable, and the CI EEZ is estimated by 
the Secretariat of the Pacific Community to contain enough 
cobalt to supply the world for 520 years.  The mineable 
quantity of the nodules within the CI EEZ is estimated to be 
7.5 trillion tons.  However, mining the nodules is presently 
not cost-effective given available recovery technology and 
prices for the same land-mined minerals.  In addition, there 
are concerns that recovery of the nodules would damage 
fragile sea floor ecosystems, thus affecting the health of 
Pacific fisheries.  Nevertheless, many in the CI, including 
some political leaders, view harvest of the nodules and other 
seabed resources as an opportunity for great national 
prosperity. 
KEEGAN