Britain to claim part of Antarctica

By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) - The government plans to submit a claim to the United Nations to extend its Antarctic territory by a million square kilometres, the foreign office said on Wednesday.

The claim is one of five territorial requests planned by the the country ahead of a May 2009 deadline and covers a vast area of the seabed around British Antarctica near the south pole, a spokeswoman said.

"We are one of many coastal states who are submitting various claims," she told Reuters.

She said the four other claims would be for Atlantic seabed territory around South Georgia and the Falkland Islands and also around Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, near the Bay of Biscay in the North Atlantic, and in the Hatton-Rockall basin off Scotland's coast.

The claim to extend British sovereignty in Antarctica could spark disputes with South American nations such as Argentina and Chile, who are likely to make overlapping claims in the region.

It also conflicts with the spirit of 1959 Antarctic Treaty, to which Britain is a signatory, which prevents all exploitation of oil gas and minerals, other than for scientific research.

But the foreign office spokeswoman said that because of the Treaty, the country's claim would be "theoretical" for the moment.

"It's incredibly unlikely that the Antarctic Treaty would ever be abolished," she said. "But in order to safeguard our interests for the future, we are submitting a claim."