Canada has dispatched two icebreakers to map the Arctic seabed beneath the North Pole to support a bid to extend the country’s maritime territory deeper into the waterways at the top of the world.
A preliminary submission to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in December laid claim to about 460,000 square miles of undersea territory in the far north. Canada’s claim is likely to be challenged by Russia and Denmark, though. Both have asserted sovereignty over Arctic passages and the suspected oil and mineral wealth beneath.
Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said Canada seeks to secure international recognition of the full extent of its continental shelf.