Timor Sea on:  
[Wikipedia]  
[Google]  
[Amazon]
The Timor Sea ( id, Laut Timor, pt, Mar de Timor, tet, Tasi Mane or ) is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
, to the east by the
Arafura Sea
The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea) lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea.
Geography
The Arafura Sea is ...
, and to the south by Australia.
The sea contains a number of reefs, uninhabited islands and significant
hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ex ...
reserves. International disputes emerged after the reserves were discovered resulting in the signing of the
Timor Sea Treaty
Formally known as the Timor Sea Treaty between the Government of East Timor and the Government of Australia was signed between Australia and East Timor in Dili, East Timor on 20 May 2002, the day East Timor attained its independence from United ...
.
The Timor Sea was hit by the worst
oil spill for 25 years in 2009.
It is possible that Australia's first inhabitants crossed the Timor Sea from the
Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago (Indonesian/Malay: , tgl, Kapuluang Malay) is the archipelago between mainland Indochina and Australia. It has also been called the " Malay world," "Nusantara", "East Indies", Indo-Australian Archipelago, Spices Archipe ...
at a time when sea levels were lower.
Etymology
The Timor Sea is named after
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
, the island on the other side of the sea's northern coastline.
The island's name is a variant of ,
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
for "east".
In
Tetum
, nativename=Tetun
, states= Indonesia East Timor
, speakers=, mostly in Indonesia
, date=2010–2011
, ref=e18
, speakers2=50,000 L2-speakers in Indonesia and East Timor
, familycolor=Austronesian
, fam2=Malayo-Polynesian
, fam3= Central–East ...
, the expression () is often used to refer to the Timor Sea. The counterpart of that body of water, the '
Ombai-
Wetar
Wetar is a tropical island which belongs to the Indonesian province of Maluku and is the largest island of the Maluku Barat Daya Islands (literally ''Southwest Islands'') of the Maluku Islands. It lies east of the Lesser Sunda Islands, which i ...
Strait', which has smaller waves, is less
turbid
Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality.
Fluids can ...
, and washes most of Timor island's northern shores, is commonly referred to in Tetum as ().
Geography
![Timor See](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Timor_See.jpg)
The waters to the east are known as the
Arafura Sea
The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea) lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea.
Geography
The Arafura Sea is ...
. The Timor Sea is adjacent to three substantial inlets on the north Australian coast, the
Joseph Bonaparte Gulf
Joseph Bonaparte Gulf is a large body of water off the coast of the Northern Territory and Western Australia and part of the Timor Sea. It was named after Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon and King of Naples (1806-1808) and then Spain (1808 ...
,
Beagle Gulf
Beagle Gulf is a gulf in the Northern Territory of Australia which opens on its west side to the Timor Sea. The gulf is bounded to the south by the mainland and to the north by Bathurst and Melville Islands. It is connected to Van Diemen Gulf ...
and the
Van Diemen Gulf
Van Diemen Gulf is a gulf in the Northern Territory of Australia. It connects to the Timor Sea in the north via Dundas Strait. Most of its area is also gazetted as a locality with the name Van Diemen Gulf. History
The gulf was named after th ...
. The Australian city of
Darwin which is located in part on the shore of the Beagle Gulf, is the nearest large city to the sea.
The small town of
Wyndham is located on the west arm of
Cambridge Gulf
Cambridge Gulf is a gulf on the north coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Many rivers flow into the gulf, including the Ord River, Pentecost River, Durack River, King River and the Forrest River, making the environment an ...
, an inlet of Joseph Bonaparte Gulf.
Rivers that enter the Timor Sea from the Northern Territory include
Fish River,
King River,
Dry River,
Victoria River and the
Alligator Rivers
Alligator Rivers is the name of an area in an Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory of Australia, containing three rivers, the East, West, and South Alligator Rivers. It is regarded as one of the richest biological regions in Australia, ...
. Rivers in the
Kimberley region that flow into the Timor Sea include the
Ord River
The Ord River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river's catchment covers .
The lower Ord River and the conjunction with Cambridge Gulf create the most northern estuarine environment in Western Australia.
The Ord ...
,
Forrest River
The Forrest River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The river rises just east of Pseudomys Hill in the Drysdale River National Park and flows in an easterly direction until discharging into the western arm of the Cambri ...
,
Pentecost River
Pentecost River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The Pentecost rises in the Durack Range and flows north through El Questro Station where it joins the Chamberlain River, then continues north crossing the Gibb River Ro ...
and
Durack River
Durack River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The river rises below the Durack Range then flows north, discharging into the west arm of Cambridge Gulf.
There are 14 tributaries of the Durack, including Chapman River, ...
.
The sea is about wide, covering an area of about . Its deepest point is the
Timor Trough The Timor Trough is an oceanic trough that is a continuation of the Sunda Trench (Java Trench) that marks the boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Timor Plate. It is separated from the Sunda Trench by a sag near Sumba Island at the ...
(which some geologists consider is the south-eastern extension of the
Java Trench
The Sunda Trench, earlier known as and sometimes still indicated as the Java Trench, is an oceanic trench located in the Indian Ocean near Sumatra, formed where the Australian- Capricorn plates subduct under a part of the Eurasian Plate. It is ...
, but others view as a foreland trough to the Timor Island "mountain range"), located in the northern part of the sea, which reaches a depth of . The remainder of the sea is much shallower, much of it averaging less than deep, as it overlies the
Sahul Shelf
Geologically, the Sahul Shelf () is a part of the continental shelf of the Australian continent, lying off the northwest coast of mainland Australia.
Etymology
The name "Sahull" or "Sahoel" appeared on 17th century Dutch maps applied to a ...
, part of the Australian
continental shelf
A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...
.
The Big Bank Shoals is an area on the sloping seabed between the continental shelf and the Timor Trough where a number of submerged banks are located.
The ecosystem of the shoals differs significantly from the deeper waters surrounding them. In May 2010, it was announced that a crater about wide has been discovered on the seabed of the Timor Sea.
Extent
![TC Floyd 22 mar 2006 0235Z](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/TC_Floyd_22_mar_2006_0235Z.jpg)
The
International Hydrographic Organization
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental organisation representing hydrography. , the IHO comprised 98 Member States.
A principal aim of the IHO is to ensure that the world's seas, oceans and navigable waters a ...
(IHO) defines the Timor Sea as being one of the waters of the
East Indian Archipelago
The East Indian Archipelago is an area designated by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). It encompasses twelve seas, two gulfs, and one strait in the East Indies (Southeast Asia).
Seas
In draft 4 of the IHO's publication S-23 ''Li ...
. The IHO defines its limits as follows:
''On the North'' The Southeastern limit of the Savu Sea
The Savu Sea (or the Sawu Sea) ( id, Laut Sawu, pt, Mar de Savu, tet, Tasi Savu) is a small sea within Indonesia named for the island of Savu (Sawu) on its southern boundary. It is bounded by Savu and Rai Jua to the south, the islands of ...
Timor_
Timor_is_an_island_at_the_southern_end_of_Maritime_Southeast_Asia,_in_the_north_of_the_Timor_Sea._The_island_is_East_Timor–Indonesia_border,_divided_between_the_sovereign_states_of_East_Timor_on_the_eastern_part_and_Indonesia_on_the_western_p_...
_to_the_Northeast_point_of_Rote_Island.html" "title="y a line from the Southwest point of Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
to the Northeast point of Rote Island">Roti
Roti (also known as chapati) is a round flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent. It is popular in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Trini ...
, through this island to its Southwest point] the Southeastern coast of Timor and the Southern limit of the
Banda Sea
The Banda Sea ( id, Laut Banda, pt, Mar de Banda, tet, Tasi Banda) is one of four seas that surround the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, connected to the Pacific Ocean, but surrounded by hundreds of islands, including Timor, as well as the Halma ...
[A line from Tanjong Aro Oesoe, through Sermata to Tanjong Njadora the Southeast point of Lakov () along the South coasts of Lakov, Moa and
Leti Islands The Letti Islands () of Indonesia are part of the Maluku Islands, in southwest Maluku Province. (The spelling Leti Islands is also used sometimes.) They are also called the "Lemola" Archipelago, from the initial two letters of each of the three mai ...
to Tanjong Toet Pateh, the West point of Leti, thence a line to Tanjong Sewirawa the Eastern extremity of Timor].
''On the East.'' The Western
imitof the
Arafura Sea
The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea) lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea.
Geography
The Arafura Sea is ...
line from Cape Don to Tanjong Aro Oesoe, the Southern point of Selaroe (Tanimbar Islands)].
''On the South.'' The North coast of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
from Cape Don Light, Cape Don to Cape Londonderry ().
''On the West.'' A line from Cape Londonderry to the Southwest point of Rote Island, Roti Island
().
Meteorology
Many tropical storms and
cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...
s originate or pass through the Timor Sea. In February 2005, Tropical Cyclone Vivienne disrupted oil and gas production facilities in the area, and the next month, Severe Tropical Cyclone Willy interrupted production. Petroleum production facilities are designed to withstand the effects of cyclones, although as a safety precaution production work is often reduced or temporarily halted and workers evacuated by helicopter to the mainland - usually to Darwin or
Dili
Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...
.
Reefs and islands
![ESC large ISS005 ISS005-E-15298](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/ESC_large_ISS005_ISS005-E-15298.JPG)
A number of significant islands are located in the sea, notably
Melville Island, part of the
Tiwi Islands
The Tiwi Islands ( tiw, Ratuati Irara meaning "two islands") are part of the Northern Territory, Australia, to the north of Darwin adjoining the Timor Sea. They comprise Melville Island, Bathurst Island, and nine smaller uninhabited islands, wi ...
, off Australia and the Australian-governed
Ashmore and Cartier Islands. It is thought that early humans reached Australia by "island-hopping" across the Timor Sea.
Scott and Seringapatam Reefs
Scott and Seringapatam Reefs is a group of atoll-like reefs in the Timor Sea more than northwest of Cape Leveque, Western Australia, on the edge of the continental shelf. There are three or four separate reef structures, depending on whether Sc ...
formed in the area and to the west, on the same underwater platform, are the
Rowley Shoals
The Rowley Shoals is a group of three atoll-like coral reefs south of the Timor Sea, about west of Broome on the northwestern Australian coast, centered on , on the edge of one of the widest continental shelves in the world. Each atoll cover ...
.
History
World War II
During the 1940s the
Japanese navy
, abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...
conducted
air raids on Australia from ships in the Timor Sea. On the 19 February 1942 the
Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga
was an aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and was named after the former Kaga Province in present-day Ishikawa Prefecture. Originally intended to be one of two s, ''Kaga'' was converted under the terms of the Washingt ...
with other vessels, launched
air strikes
An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...
against
Darwin, Australia
Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory.
It is the smalle ...
, sinking nine ships, including the ''
USS Peary Peary may refer to:
People Last name
* Danny Peary (born 1949), American film critic and sports writer
* Gerald Peary (born 1944), American film critic
* Harold Peary (1908–1985), American actor, comedian and singer
* Josephine Diebitsch Peary ( ...
''. This bombing marked the beginning of the
Battle of Timor in the
Pacific theatre of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Hydrology
Timor Current
The Timor Current is an oceanic current that runs south-west in the Timor Sea between the Malay Archipelago and Australia. It is a major contributor to the
Indonesian Throughflow
The Indonesian Throughflow (ITF; ) is an ocean current with importance for global climate as is the low-latitude movement of warm, relative freshwater from the north Pacific to the Indian Ocean. It thus serves as a main upper branch of the glob ...
that transports water from the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
to the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
.
Hydrocarbon reserves
![Oil Slick in the Timor Sea September-2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Oil_Slick_in_the_Timor_Sea_September-2009.jpg)
Beneath the Timor Sea lie considerable reserves of
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
and
gas
Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma).
A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...
. Confirmation of the prospectivity of the Timor Sea came when Woodside-Burmah's Big John rig drilled Troubadour No. 1 well in June 1974 on the Troubadour Shoals about southeast of Timor, and intersected of hydrocarbons. A number of offshore petroleum projects are in operation and there is considerable exploration activity either underway and numerous proposed projects. A gas pipeline crosses the Timor Sea from the Joint Petroleum Development Area to
Wickham Point near Darwin.
The Timor Sea was the location for Australia's largest
oil spill
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...
when the
Montara oil field leaked oil, natural gas and
condensate
Condensate may refer to:
* The liquid phase produced by the condensation of steam or any other gas
* The product of a chemical condensation reaction, other than water
* Natural-gas condensate, in the natural gas industry
* ''Condensate'' (album) ...
from 21 August to 3 November 2009.
During the spill of oil leaked each day. The Montara Commission of Inquiry placed blame on the Thai company PTTEP, owner of the wells.
Bayu-Undan project
The largest petroleum project in operation in the Timor Sea is the Bayu-Undan project operated by
Santos. The Bayu-Undan field is located approximately north-west of
Darwin in the
Bonaparte Basin
The Bonaparte Basin is a sedimentary basin in Western Australia and the Northern Territory of Australia. Its total area is approximately , most of which is offshore.
The sedimentary basin emerges at the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and extends int ...
. Production commenced in 2004 as a gas recycle project - with liquids (condensate, propane and butane) being stripped from the raw production stream and exported. Gas was pumped back down into the reservoir. At around the same time, construction commenced on a subsea
natural gas pipeline
Pipeline transport is the long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas through a system of pipes—a pipeline—typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countr ...
connecting the Bayu-Undan processing facility to a
liquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...
plant situated at Wickham Point in
Darwin harbour. Since the completion of the pipeline and the Darwin LNG plant in 2005, gas produced offshore at Bayu-Undan is now transported to the Darwin plant where it is converted into a liquid and transported to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
under long-term sales contracts. Timor-Leste has made, as of 2017, over $18 billion from Bayu-Undan since production began; however, it is predicted its reserves will be exhausted by 2023.
Ichthys gas field
The
Ichthys gas field
The Ichthys gas field is a natural gas field located in the Timor Sea, off the northwestern coast of Australia. The field is located offshore Western Australia and southwest of Darwin, with an average water depth of approximately It was discov ...
is a
natural gas field
A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations.
Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...
located in the Timor Sea, off the northwestern coast of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. The field is located 220 km offshore Western Australia and 820 km southwest of Darwin, with an average water depth of approximately 250 metres. It was discovered in 2000. First Gas from the Ichthys field was achieved on 30 July 2018.
Other projects
AED Oil owns the large oil project at Puffin oilfield and
Woodside Petroleum
Woodside Energy Group Ltd (formerly Woodside Petroleum Ltd) is an Australian petroleum exploration and production company. Woodside is the operator of oil and gas production in Australia and also Australia's largest independent dedicated oil a ...
is producing oil at the Laminaria oilfield. The Greater Sunrise
gas field
A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations.
Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...
, discovered in 1974, is one of the largest in the area and is expected to earn East Timor several billion dollars in royalty revenues. Woodside Petroleum plans to process gas from Greater Sunrise via a
floating platform, however
Xanana Gusmão
José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician. A former rebel, he was the third President of the independent East Timor, serving from 2002 to 2007. He then became its fourth prime minister, serving from ...
, East Timor's Prime Minister opposes this plan and instead wants the gas to go t
Beaçovia a
pipeline
Pipeline may refer to:
Electronics, computers and computing
* Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on
** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...
for processing.
Territorial dispute
![Oil demo Timor 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Oil_demo_Timor_2013.JPG)
Since the discovery of petroleum in the Timor Sea in the 1970s, there have been disputes surrounding the rights to ownership and exploitation of the resources situated in a part of the Timor Sea known as the
Timor Gap
The Timor Gap is an area of the Timor Sea between Australia and Timor Island. The island is divided between independent East Timor and West Timor province of Indonesia.
The Timor Gap is part of the Australia-East Timor border, Australia-Indones ...
, which is the area of the Timor Sea which lies outside the territorial boundaries of the nations to the north and south of the Timor Sea.
These disagreements initially involved Australia and Indonesia, although a resolution was eventually reached in the form of the
Timor Gap Treaty
The Timor Gap Treaty was formally known as the ''Treaty between Australia and the Republic of Indonesia on the zone of cooperation in an area between the Indonesian province of East Timor and Northern Australia''. It was a bilateral treaty betwee ...
. After declaration of East Timor's nationhood in 1999, the terms of the Timor Gap Treaty were abandoned and negotiations commenced between Australia and East Timor, culminating in the
Timor Sea Treaty
Formally known as the Timor Sea Treaty between the Government of East Timor and the Government of Australia was signed between Australia and East Timor in Dili, East Timor on 20 May 2002, the day East Timor attained its independence from United ...
.
From 1965 to 2018, Australia's territorial claim extended to the bathymetric axis (the line of greatest sea-bed depth) at the Timor Trough. It overlapped East Timor's own territorial claim, which followed the former colonial power
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...
in claiming that the dividing line should be midway between the two countries. In 2018, Australia agreed to a median line boundary.
It was revealed in 2013 that the
Australian Secret Intelligence Service
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Aus ...
(ASIS) planted listening devices to listen to East Timor during negotiations over the Greater Sunrise oil and gasfields. This is known as the
Australia–East Timor spying scandal.
Timor Sea Treaty
The
Timor Sea Treaty
Formally known as the Timor Sea Treaty between the Government of East Timor and the Government of Australia was signed between Australia and East Timor in Dili, East Timor on 20 May 2002, the day East Timor attained its independence from United ...
, which was signed on the 20 May 2002, led to the establishment of the Timor Sea Designated Authority (TSDA). This organisation is responsible for the administration of all petroleum-related activities in a part of the Timor Sea known as the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA). The treaty was ratified in February 2007.
Under the terms of the treaty, royalties on petroleum production in the JPDA are split in a 90:10 ratio between
East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. It has been criticised because the treaty did not finalise the
maritime boundary
A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of the Earth's water surface areas using physiographic or geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources,VLIZ Maritime Boun ...
between East Timor and Australia.
2018 Maritime Boundaries Treaty
The ''Australia–Timor Leste Treaty Establishing Their Maritime Boundaries in the Timor Sea'' was signed on 6 March 2018 at United Nations headquarters in New York in the presence of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Australian Senate Economics Legislation Committee, ''Report: Timor Sea Maritime Boundaries Treaty Consequential Amendments Bill 2018 [Provisions
/nowiki> and the Passenger Movement Charge Amendment (Timor Sea Maritime Boundaries Treaty) Bill 2018'' ">rovisions/nowiki>, 8 February 2019]; Hao Duy Phan, Tara Davenport and Robert Beckman (eds.), ''Timor-Leste/Australia Conciliation: A Victory for UNCLOS and Peaceful Settlement,'' Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore, 2019.
See also
* Banda Sea
The Banda Sea ( id, Laut Banda, pt, Mar de Banda, tet, Tasi Banda) is one of four seas that surround the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, connected to the Pacific Ocean, but surrounded by hundreds of islands, including Timor, as well as the Halma ...
* Jukung#The great Jukung race, The great Jukung race
References
External links
* Khamsi, Kathryn (2005)
"A Settlement to the Timor Sea Dispute?"
''Harvard Asia Quarterly'' 9 (1) 6–23.
Robert J. King, Submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee on the provisions of the Timor Sea Maritime Boundaries Treaty, January 2019
{{Authority control
Australia–East Timor border
Australia–Indonesia border
Bodies of water of Australia
Bodies of water of East Timor
Coastline of the Northern Territory
East Timor–Indonesia border
Seas of Indonesia
Seas of the Indian Ocean