(English version) Agreement between Australia and Indonesia Establishing Certain Seabed Boundaries on 18 May 1971

*Note: This Agreement was signed in 1971 when Papua New Guinea was still an Australian-administered United Nations trust territory (hence called "Trust territory of Papua New Guinea in the Agreement). It was on 15 September 1975 that established an official independent nation of Papua New Guinea.

  • Summary

This legal document contains the English version of the Agreement between the Government of the Common Wealth of Australia and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia Establishing Certain Seabed Boundaries, signed on 18 May 1971. The agreed seabed boundary consists of straight lines connecting 12 points (A1 to A12) located between Longitude 133° 23' East of point A12 and Longitude 140° 29' East of point A1. Specific coordinates of the points constituting the agreed seabed boundary are provided in Article 1.

Notably, Article 2 states that the demarcation line of the seabed western to point A12 is not provided in this Agreement, and shall be negotiated in the future, which would be done in another bilateral Agreement in 1972.

The groundwork for seabed delimitation between Indonesia and the Trust Territory of Papua New Guinea is also partly provided in Article 3 (Southern coast of New Guinea adjacent to Indonesia's) and Article 4 (Northern coast of Newguinea adjacent to). The boundary lines for the southern coast of Papua New Guinea adjacent to Indonesia's coast would be completed in another Australia-Indonesia Agreement in 1973. The boundary line for the northern coast of Papua New Guinea adjacent to Indonesia's coast would be done in 1980 between the Government of Indonesia and of Papua New Guinea. 

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Treaty between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia Establishing an Exclusive Economic Zone Boundary and Certain Seabed Boundaries on 14 March 1997 (not yet enter into force) (adopted from UN Treaty Series)

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