Section 2B
Continental shelf limit and continental margin
The continental shelf of Malaysia shall not extend beyond the limits provided for in subsections (3), (4), (5) and (6).
(2)
The continental margin comprises the submerged prolongation of the land mass of Malaysia and consists of the sea-bed and subsoil of the shelf, the slope and the rise but does not include the deep ocean floor with its oceanic ridges or the subsoil thereof.
(3)
Wherever the continental margin extends beyond two hundred nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, the outer edge of the continental margin shall be established by either—
(a)
a line delineated in accordance with subsection (7) by reference to the outermost fixed points at each of which
Continental Shelf 7
the thickness of sedimentary rocks is at least one percent of the shortest distance from such point to the foot of the continental slope; or
(b)
a line delineated in accordance with subsection (7) by reference to fixed points not more than sixty nautical miles from the foot of the continental slope.
(4)
For the purpose of subsection (3), in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the foot of the continental slope shall be determined as the point of maximum change in the gradient at its base.
(5)
The fixed points comprising the line of the outer limits of the continental shelf on the sea-bed, drawn in accordance with subsection
(3)
, either shall not exceed three hundred and fifty nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured or shall not exceed one hundred nautical miles from the two thousand and five hundred metre isobath, which is a line connecting the depth of two thousand and five hundred metres.
(6)
Notwithstanding subsection (5), on submarine ridges, the outer limit of the continental shelf shall not exceed three hundred and fifty nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured but does not include submarine elevations that are natural components of the continental margin such as its plateaux, rises, caps, banks and spurs.
(7)
The outer limits of the continental shelf shall be delineated, where that shelf extends beyond two hundred nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, by straight lines not exceeding sixty nautical miles in length, connecting fixed points, defined by coordinates of latitude and longitude.
(8)
This section shall be without prejudice to the question of delimitation of the continental shelf between Malaysia and its neighbouring countries with opposite or adjacent coasts.