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Statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, on the passing of Professor Kensaku Tamaki, Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the member of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS)

April 7, 2011
Japanese

  1. I was overcome with sorrow upon receiving the news that Professor Kensaku Tamaki, Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the member of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), had passed away in New York where he attended the meetings of the CLCS. On behalf of the Government of Japan, I would like to express my deepest condolences to his bereaved family.

  2. Professor Tamaki, as one of the world’s leading scientists in the field of Marine geology, especially in Ocean Floor Tectonics, has made significant contributions during his terms of nine years as the Japanese member of the CLCS, to the international order of seas through his sincere efforts in delimitating the outer limits of continental shelf based on the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

  3. In respect for Professor Tamaki’s achievement, I would like to offer my heartfelt prayer that his soul rest in peace, and express my feelings of sincere mourning.

(Note)
1. Professor Kensaku Tamaki, member of the CLCS
Director of the Frontier Research Center for Energy and Resources, Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo. Professor Tamaki was first elected as member of CLCS at the election in 2002 and was re-elected in 2007 and has been fulfilling the duty as the CLCS member over 9 years (2 terms). Appointed as Special Assistant to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in March, 2010. Demised at 22:37(local time) April 5, 2011 in a hospital in New York, at the age of 62.

2. The CLCS
The CLCS was established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, for the purpose of considering and making recommendations to, coastal States’ submissions on the limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines. The CLCS consists of 21 experts in the fields of geology, geography or hydrography. The elections of the members of the CLCS are held at a meeting of States Parties of the Convention. 

    • (* This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)
(END)
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