KIRIBATI MARITIME BOUNDARIES PROJECT

Tion Uriam

Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Development

Status of Kiribati Maritime Boundaries

• GIS work started in 2007 – defining the territorial sea baselines, calculating the various maritime zones

• Source data - georeferenced topographical maps, hydrographical charts

• Present status – verifying the baselines against satellite imagery, and completing technical solutions for shared maritime boundaries

Status of Kiribati Maritime Boundaries

Kiribati Maritime Boundaries – shared boundaries

• Butaritari and Makin atolls – critical atolls for the shared boundary between the Gilbert Group and Marshall Islands

Using satellite imagery to verify the baselines

Butaritari (IKONOS)

Using satellite imagery to verify the baselines

Butaritari (IKONOS)

Using Google Earth to verify baselines

Currently no image exists on Google Earth for Rawaki

Kiribati GPS Surveys - verify positional accuracy of existing charts, maps and imagery

Local datum – survey to calculate transformation parameters to WGS 84 datum

Satellite imagery of Arorae (Geo-eye 1)

• Currently acquiring imagery of Arorae and Tamana, which are crucial for shared boundary with Tuvalu

• Possibly reduce cost of mobilising field survey teams to the southern line and phoenix islands

• Limitations of use of satellite imagery – cloud cover, photo controls (IRP’s) for horizontal accuracy, etc.

Complete verification of baselines (archipelagic potential??) and computation of Maritime zones,

outer limits and shared boundary solutions

Update the Marine Zones Act of Kiribati with the definition of the Territorial Sea Baselines/ Maritime

zones

Deposit the coordinates defining the Territorial Sea Baselines/ Maritime zones jurisdictions at the UN –undertake shared boundary negotiations and fulfil

obligations as a State party to the UNCLOS Convention (Article 16, Article 75 respectively)

Future Directions

Submission for potential extended Continental Shelf (ECS) – Article 76 of UNCLOS

Acknowledgements

Big thank you to SOPAC for their continuous support

Kam bati n rabwa

Questions??