A day earlier, Vietnam and Malaysia also submitted to the UN commission a joint report on the outer limits of their continental shelves.

The submissions are in response to regulations issued in 1982 by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Article 76 of the convention stipulates that the continental shelf of a coastal state comprises  the sea bed and subsoil of the sub-sea areas that extend beyond its territorial waters throughout the natural extension of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin.

If the continental margin of a coastal state is less than 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, the coastal state’s continental shelf will be 200 nautical miles.

If the continental margin of a coastal state is more than 200 nautical miles, the coastal state is entitled to extend its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, but not exceeding 350 nautical miles.

According to paragraph 8 of Article 76, reports on the limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured shall be submitted by the coastal state to the commission along with the necessary geodetic, scientific and technical information required.

Coastal states can submit their own complete or partial reports, or work with each other to submit joint reports to the commission.

For coastal states that became parties to the convention before May 13, 1999 like Vietnam, the deadline for the submission of national reports is fixed for May 13, 2009.

Based on comprehensive geographical and geomorphologic studies and surveys of the country’s continental shelf, the relevant agencies put together a report on the outer limits of Vietnam’s continental shelf in the north of the country.

Vietnam and Malaysia produced a joint report on the southern part of the East Sea for submission to the commission.