The landmark judgement at The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague, has gifted Bangladesh with over 19,467 square kilometres out of 25,000 square kilometres of maritime areas.
It was in March 2012 that the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos) settled a similar case between Bangladesh and Myanmar and Bangladesh got its right over 1,11,631 square kilometres area for which there was conflict with Myanmar. Through this verdict, justice has been done to both sides truly marking a triumph for international legal instruments.
The country’s victory over its dispute with two neighbouring countries has widened the door of good prospects. Delimitation of the country’s maritime boundary with two next-door neighbours has removed all encumbrances to go ahead with exploration of oil and gas in the blocks therein.
Besides, the country achieved its right to collect unlimited mineral resources in the seabed. As the maritime boundary of Bangladesh was specified, it has created a scope for local and foreign ships to sail safely for the purpose of business and international waterways communication. The country will be able to earn huge foreign exchange by exporting fish.
With the PCA verdict Bangladesh can now take full-fledged initiatives to harvest its sea resources, which promise the country a far greater prospect of resolving resource crises, especially one of hydrocarbons. This new achievement will accelerate the country’s economic development at a faster pace.
With the tribunal clearly delineating which part of the Bay belongs to which country, the stage is now set for Bangladesh to explore potential hydrocarbon resources that are thought to exist offshore.
Bangladesh as a maritime state
Resources are the driving force of any country’s development. Bangladesh is a small country with a huge population. Oceans have a great potential for resources like food, mineral and energy which are yet to be explored and exploited. Bangladesh is an important maritime state with more than 700km coastline and sea lanes of communication.
Bangladesh is not rich in the mineral resources. Her needs for energy resources compel her to look forward to the vast maritime area more than 207,000 square miles according to the United Nations Convention of the Law of Sea (UNCLOS).
After the WWII, the law of sea gives the states more jurisdictions over its sea area. She has the commercial and strategic significance which can’t be ignored. The sea is one of the major sources of protein, mineral resources and the sea lanes are the lifelines of all economies. Bangladesh’s development will depend on the successful exploitation of maritime resources in the near future of energy resources.
Significance of sea has been increasing day by day because of the exploitation of fishery resources and offshore mineral reserves. Bangldesh’s maritime interests include a coastline of 700km extending deep into the Bay of Bengal and 166,000 square kilometres of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), augmented by numerous islands of 16 coastal districts.
More than 32 million people live in these coastal districts and another four million are directly involved with the sea fishing trawlers. 90% of our foreign trade is transported over the seas. The biological, chemical and geological marine resources contribute a lot to a country’s economy.
Living resources
In Bangladesh, narrow coastal belts are the main sources of sea fish. In recent years, it has been discovered that about one million tons of fish can be achieved from Bangladesh’s area of sea including the continental shelf. Coastal aquaculture includes artificial propagation of different organisms living in the sea, like oysters, crabs, shrimps and sea woods. It is a very important sector for Bangladesh which is being practised in the enclosed backwaters and estuarine areas of Bagerhat, Khulna, Sathkhira, Faridpur, Barisal and Cox’s Bazar.
The EEZ can provide substantial contribution to the food supplies, especially the protein supply. Sea weeds are exploited by men for food, animal feed, energy, fertilisers and for chemical and pharmaceuticals purposes. It is one of the world’s major living resources about which Bangladesh is not enough concerned.
Non-living resources
There is a possibility of exploring the following mineral resources – hornblende, tremolite actinolite, opaque, zircon, pyroxene, garnet, epidote, monazite, kyanite. Of the 60 elements present in sea water, only six are recovered commercially – sodium, chlorine, magnesium, bromine, calcium and sulfur. There are possibilities to derive potassium, iodine, uranium and gold from the sea water in the future.
At the 10th World Energy Conference, the delegates also forecasted that 45% of the total world oil and gas reserves would come from offshore. Heavy minerals were discovered in the beach sands of the coastal region of Bangladesh in 1961 which are yet to be extracted.
The 1961 US Geological Survey reported that there are abundant resources in beach sands along the country’s coastline and some 17 separate areas have been identified to contain ilmenite, zircon, rutile and magnetite. Recently, an Australian survey said that some of the minerals like rutile and zircon are world class.
At present, the proven gas reserve is about 11Tcf. According to USCG and joint Petrobangla report the possibility of getting 60/70Tcf in Bangladesh is only about 5%, possibility of 32Tcf is about 59% and there is a 95% possibility of getting 8Tcf. In that case, it is very important to find new sources of energy resources.
Manganese nodules are widespread in the ocean depths beyond the continental shelf. These are the most important resources of deep sea deposit. The nodules contain 40 different materials including copper, aluminium, nickel, iron, cobalt and manganese. The most important component is manganese (29%), iron (6.3%), nickel (1.28%), copper (1.07%) and cobalt (0.25%).
Bangladesh now has 118,813 square kilometres of territorial sea and the size of the country is 147,570 square kilometres. Our rights have been established over a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone and a substantial share of the extended continental shelf vis-a-vis Myanmar and India. Thus, we have maritime zone almost the size of the country itself.
Potentials of hydrocarbon
The judgment allows Bangladesh a 200 mile exclusive economic zone, continental shelf beyond the 200 mile economic zone and to have an access for Bangladesh to the open sea, not turning it into a “sea-locked country.” Bangladesh’s awarded area reportedly includes 10 off-shore blocs in the west which were in dispute with India. Bangladesh will now have not only 19,467 square kilometres in the west but also 111,631 square kilometres in the east (Itlos verdict) in the Bay of Bengal for exploration and exploitation of its resources.
One of the sources of food as well as oil and gas could be found from marine resources. As land resources deplete, more attention falls on the marine resources. As there is a huge potential of having hydrocarbon in the offshore areas of Bangladesh, exploration should be done in those areas as soon as possible to meet the energy crisis in the near future. There is every possibility of the presence of hydrocarbon in the sea areas of Bangladesh. Natural gas and oil, called “hydrocarbons” are basically the same, and can serve the same purposes.
Wherever there is natural gas, there must also be oil in the lower stratum, provided some geological conditions prevail to allow accumulation. Since gas is lighter than oil, it floats in the upper stratum. Geologists believe that the Bangladeshi territory in the Bay holds the biggest oil and gas prospect.
There is a high probability that some other marine minerals such as copper, cobalt, manganese, tin, zinc, silver and nickel can be found in the continental shelf. Petrobangla sources said, foreign companies lost their interest to investigate oil and gas in the sea due to disputes with India and Myanmar.
Petrobangla, a state-owned national oil company, was facing difficulties to invite tender because Myanmar demanded three deep sea blocks of their own while India demanded some more. Now there is no barrier to investigate oil and gas in those blocks after the verdict made by the PCA because Bangladesh has achieved the ownership of those blocks, according to the verdict.
Policy recommendation
The maritime boundary of Bangladesh is full of sea resources, but there are no governmental steps to preserve these resources. Experts demanded some rapid initiatives from the government to preserve the sea resources. They said a bright future for the country lies in the sea which is full of natural and mineral resources.
They, however, said the country has no preparation to utilise the opportunity. Bangladesh falls short of efficient manpower and experts in this regard. The country has no modern equipment for fishing and exploring mineral and natural resources. The experts suggested that the country should create efficient manpower, adapt with modern technologies and procure equipment. They spoke on the need for holding a quick survey to determine the quantity of the resources preserved in the sea.
Professor Kausar Ahmed of oceanography department of Dhaka University said that winning the maritime dispute is not the ultimate solution to the problem. Rather, the country needs a coordinated effort and expertise to utilise the sea resources.
He said it is good that the country won its sea boundary dispute with India and Myanmar. But the country will have to make a quick survey to know as to how much resources are reserved in the sea. He regretted that such a survey was not held in the past.
He said this position is very important to Bangladesh. Despite demands made by India and Myanmar, a small country like Bangladesh has become shrinkage.
It is good news for us. But Bangladesh should collect the wealth from the new sea boundary and it will contribute to the economic growth of the country. Mentioning great achievement in the country’s gas sector, he said, “Bangladesh has a limited amount of gas reserves.”
The Itlos verdict ends the long and complex process and paves the way for the exploitation of vast offshore resources. It provides the nation with a wider scope of exploring and exploiting the potential. However, this verdict has opened new horizons of possibilities for the extraction of immense sea resources.
But the country is allegedly not prepared to exploit this bounteous gift of nature, this marine treasure trove. The country falls short of skilled manpower and experts in the relevant fields. It has no modern equipment for fishing and exploring mineral resources. But what is even more discouraging is that authorities are yet to conduct surveys to determine the volume of the sea resources.
The country should adopt a strategic plan to overcome these hurdles in earnest; otherwise the momentary euphoria around the victory will fizzle out soon.