Japan is planning a huge boost in research on rare undersea minerals around the country estimated to be worth trillions of yen, and wants U.N. approval for its claims on the continental shelf, government sources said.
Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, a coastal state can claim economic interests in a continental shelf beyond its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), provided there is geographical or geological continuity of the seabed.
EEZs are limited to 200 nautical miles from baselines used to measure territorial seas.