…no assurances another vessel will not meet same fate – Foreign Affairs MinisterThe hunt for oil by Guyana in the now disputed waters will have to halt until the maritime delimitation is formally settled with Venezuela,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, as there is no assurance that another vessel attempting to conduct a survey in that location will not meet the same fate.Foreign AffairsMinister, Carolyn Rodrigues-BirkettThis was confirmed by Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, who in a telephone interview with this publication, said that there is no formal maritime border in place with Venezuela hence the recent incident involving the Teknik Perdana.Minister Rodrigues-Birkett explained that why Guyana maintains that the vessel was in Guyana’s Jurisdiction is through equidistance mapping.She said that under international maritime law,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, where there is no formal delimitation of the maritime border,Wholesale Jerseys 2020, a line can be drawn using equidistance.“We drew our line and they drew their line,” said Rodrigues-Birkett.She explained that where the confusion arises is that the border line drawn by Venezuela cuts across to Guyana’s coast.Both parties she said, starts the maritime border at the correct location but as the line is taken further out, the Venezuelan claim cuts across to Guyana’s coast.In explaining the need to have to find a mechanism to resolve the issue, Minister Rodrigues-Birkett said that the same route could not have been taken as had happened with the Suriname incident because Venezuela is not a party to that convention.She said that this is why the two countries have decided to have their technical people meet and explore what are the options available to resolving the maritime dispute such as International Court or Arbitration Tribunal.It is not a matter that can be settled at a bilateral level said Minister Rodrigues-Birkett, given that both countries are holding to their positions.Asked why the two countries did not opt to have the maritime dispute be settled through the Good Officer Process using Professor Norman Girvan, the Minister explained that he has a different mandate with different terms of reference.According to the Minister, the Good Officer Process is dealing with the resuscitated claim to the Essequibo.This, she said, was a matter that had already been settled through an 1899 ruling but was brought up again by Venezuela.According to Minister Rodrigues-Birkett,Wholesale Jerseys, utilizing the Good Officer Process is not an option to be thrown out altogether, but to utilize that process would require a renewed mandate different to the one that was established in 1966.She said that the Essequibo claim is one that had been settled before, whereas the maritime delimitation was never formally addressed.The Minister explained that one good thing that has come out of the recent incident involving the seizure of the vessel is the fact that the maritime delimitation will formally be settled.Last week Thursday the Teknik Perdana was intercepted by an armed Venezuelan Navy Vessel and was taken to the Margarita Island in that country’s jurisdiction.The vessel has since been released and has made its way to Trinidad and Tobago.The Teknik Perdana was contracted by Texas based Andarko Petroleum Inc to search for oil off the Essequibo coast.Anadarko spokesman John Christiansen says five Americans and a number of Russians and Indonesians are among the 36 crew members aboard the Panamanian-flagged Teknik Perdana, which departed Friday from its anchorage off Venezuela’s Margarita Island.The ship’s Ukrainian captain was charged with violating Venezuela’s exclusive economic zone but allowed to leave with other crew members.This past week officials from Guyana and Venezuela met in Trinidad and Tobago in order to resolve the dispute.It was at that meeting that the teams agreed to explore mechanisms within the context of international law to address the issue of maritime delimitation.The Guyana delegation comprised Minister Rodrigues-Birkett; Robert Persaud, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment; Elizabeth Harper, Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ambassador Rudolph Collins,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, Advisor; Keith George,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, Guyana’s Ambassador to Suriname; Audrey Jardine Waddell, Guyana’s Ambassador to UNASUR; and Newell Dennison, Deputy Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines CommissionThey also agreed that a technical team would meet within four months to exchange views on how such delimitation could proceed.