Timor Sea
Encyclopedia
The Timor Sea is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor
, to the east by the Arafura Sea
, to the south by Australia
and to the west by the Indian Ocean
.
The sea contains a number of reefs, uninhabited islands and significant hydrocarbon
reserves. International disputes emerged after the reserves were discovered resulting in the signing of the Timor Sea Treaty.
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 Indonesia at a time when sea levels were lower.
. The Timor Sea is adjacent to three substantial inlets on the north Australian coast, the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf
, Beagle Gulf and the Van Diemen Gulf
. The Australian city of Darwin
is the only large city to adjoin the sea. The small town of Wyndham
is located on the west arm of Cambridge Gulf
, 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
. Rivers in the Kimberley region that flow into the Timor Sea include the Ord River
, Forrest River
, Pentecost River
and Durack River
.
The sea is about 480 km (300 statute miles) wide, covering an area of about 610,000 km². (235,000 square miles). Its deepest point is the Timor Trough
(which some geologists consider is the south-eastern extension of the Java Trench
, 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 3,300 m (10,800 ft). The remainder of the sea is much shallower, much of it averaging less than 200 m (650 ft) deep, as it overlies the Sahul Shelf
, part of the Australian continental shelf
.
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 is significantly different to the deeper waters surrounding them. In May 2010, it was announced that a crater about 50 km wide has been discovered on the seabed of the Timor Sea.
(IHO) defines the Timor Sea as being one of the waters of the East Indian Archipelago
. The IHO defines its limits as follows:
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. . The petroleum production facilities are designed to withstand the effects of cyclones, although as a safety precaution production is usually reduced or temporarily halted and workers evacuated by helicopter to the mainland - usually to Darwin or Dili
.
A number of significant islands are located in the sea, notably Melville Island, part of the Tiwi Islands
, 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
formed in the area and to the west on the same underwater platform is the Rowley Shoals
.
that transports water from the Pacific Ocean
to the Indian Ocean
.
and gas
. 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
when the Montara oil field
leaked oil, natural gas and condensate
from 21 August to 3 November 2009. During the spill 400 barrels of oil leaked each day. The Montara Commission of Inquiry placed blame on the Thai company PTTEP, owner of the wells.
. The Bayu-Undan field is located approximately 500 km north-west of Darwin
. 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 500 km subsea natural gas pipeline
connecting the Bayu-Undan processing facility to a liquefied natural gas plant situated at Wickham Point in Darwin
harbour. Since the completion of the pipeline and the Darwin LNG plant in 2006, gas produced offshore at Bayu-Undan is now transported to the Darwin plant where it is converted into a liquid and transported to Japan
under long-term sales contracts.
owns the large oil project at Puffin oilfield and Woodside Petroleum
is producing oil at the Laminaria oilfield. The Greater Sunrise gas field, 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
, East Timor's Prime Minister opposes this plan and instead wants the gas to go to Dili
via a pipeline
for processing.
, 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
. 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
.
Australia's territorial claim extends to the bathymetric axis (the line of greatest sea-bed depth) at the Timor Trough. It overlaps East Timor's own territorial claim, which follows the former colonial power Portugal
in claiming that the dividing line should be midway between the two countries.
, 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
and Australia
. It has been criticised because the treaty did not finalise the maritime boundary
between East Timor and Australia.
conducted air raids on Australia from ships in the Timor Sea. On the 19 February 1942 the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga
with other vessels, launched air strikes against Darwin, Australia, sinking nine ships, including the USS Peary. This bombing marked the beginning of the Battle of Timor in the Pacific theatre
of World War II
.
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
, to the east by the Arafura Sea
Arafura Sea
The Arafura Sea lies west of the Pacific Ocean overlying the continental shelf between Australia and New Guinea.-Geography:The Arafura Sea is bordered by Torres Strait and through that the Coral Sea to the east, the Gulf of Carpentaria to the south, the Timor Sea to the west and the Banda and Ceram...
, to the south by Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and to the west by the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
.
The sea contains a number of reefs, uninhabited islands and significant hydrocarbon
Hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls....
reserves. International disputes emerged after the reserves were discovered resulting in the signing of the Timor Sea Treaty.
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 Indonesia at a time when sea levels were lower.
Geography
The waters to the east are known as the Arafura SeaArafura Sea
The Arafura Sea lies west of the Pacific Ocean overlying the continental shelf between Australia and New Guinea.-Geography:The Arafura Sea is bordered by Torres Strait and through that the Coral Sea to the east, the Gulf of Carpentaria to the south, the Timor Sea to the west and the Banda and Ceram...
. The Timor Sea is adjacent to three substantial inlets on the north Australian coast, the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf
Joseph Bonaparte Gulf
Joseph Bonaparte Gulf is a large body of water off the coast of the Northern Territory, Australia and Western Australia. It was named after Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon and King of Naples and then Spain by French explorer and naturalist Nicholas Baudin in 1803...
, Beagle Gulf and the Van Diemen Gulf
Van Diemen Gulf
Van Diemen Gulf is a gulf between Arnhem Land, of the attached Cobourg Peninsula and Melville Island in northern Australia. It is connected to the Timor Sea in the west by the Clarence Strait , and to the Arafura Sea in the north by Dundas Strait...
. The Australian city of Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
is the only large city to adjoin the sea. The small town of Wyndham
Wyndham, Western Australia
Wyndham is the oldest and northernmost town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, located on the Great Northern Highway, northeast of Perth. It was established in 1885 as a result of a gold rush at Halls Creek, and it is now a port and service centre for the east Kimberley with a...
is located on the west arm of Cambridge Gulf
Cambridge Gulf
Cambridge Gulf is a gulf on the north coast of Western Australia.Many rivers flow into the gulf including the Ord River, Pentecost River, Durack River, King River and the Forrest River.The gulf experiences two large tidal flows each day between to...
, an inlet of Joseph Bonaparte Gulf.
Rivers that enter the Timor Sea from the Northern Territory include Fish River
Fish River (Northern Territory)
The Fish River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is a tributary of the Daly River which ultimately flows into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf which is part of the Timor Sea....
, King River
King River (Northern Territory)
The King River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is a tributary of the Daly River which ultimately flows into the Timor Sea.The Dry River is a tributary of the King River....
, Dry River
Dry River (Northern Territory)
The Dry River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is a tributary of the King River which eventually flows into the Timor Sea....
, Victoria River and the Alligator Rivers
Alligator Rivers
The Alligator Rivers is the name of a region in the Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory of Australia, containing three rivers the East, West and South Alligator River...
. Rivers in the Kimberley region that flow into the Timor Sea include the Ord River
Ord River
The Ord River is a 320-kilometre-long river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It was named in honour of Harry Ord, Governor of Western Australia from 1877 to 1880....
, Forrest River
Forrest River
The Forrest River is a river in the Kimberley 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 Cambridge Gulf....
, Pentecost River
Pentecost River
Pentecost River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.The river rises below the Durack Range and flows North through El Questro Station where it meets with the Chamberlain River, then continues north crossing the Gibb River Road, skirts the eastern edge of Drysdale River National...
and Durack River
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...
.
The sea is about 480 km (300 statute miles) wide, covering an area of about 610,000 km². (235,000 square miles). Its deepest point is the Timor Trough
Timor Trough
The Timor Trough is an oceanic trough that is a continuation of the Sunda Trench that marks the boundary between Indo-Australian Plate's continental shelf and the Timor Plate to the north...
(which some geologists consider is the south-eastern extension of the Java Trench
Java Trench
The Sunda Trench, earlier known as, and sometimes still indicated as the Java Trench, located in the northeastern Indian Ocean, with a length of and a maximum depth of , is the second-deepest point in the Indian Ocean after Diamantina Trench, which is 8,047 metres deep...
, 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 3,300 m (10,800 ft). The remainder of the sea is much shallower, much of it averaging less than 200 m (650 ft) deep, as it overlies the Sahul Shelf
Sahul Shelf
The Sahul Shelf is part of the continental shelf of Sahul and lies off the coast of Australia. The Sahul Shelf proper stretches northwest from Australia much of the way under the Timor Sea towards Timor, ending where the seabed begins descending into the Timor Trough...
, part of the Australian continental shelf
Continental shelf
The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...
.
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 is significantly different to the deeper waters surrounding them. In May 2010, it was announced that a crater about 50 km wide has been discovered on the seabed of the Timor Sea.
Extent
The International Hydrographic OrganizationInternational Hydrographic Organization
The International Hydrographic Organization is the inter-governmental organisation representing the hydrographic community. It enjoys observer status at the UN and is the recognised competent authority on hydrographic surveying and nautical charting...
(IHO) defines the Timor Sea as being one of the waters of the East Indian Archipelago
East Indian Archipelago
The East Indian Archipelago is a marine area designated by the International Hydrographic Organization . It consists of a number of seas and straits in the East Indies ....
. The IHO defines its limits as follows:
On the North The Southeastern limit of the Savu SeaSavu SeaThe Savu Sea is a small sea within Indonesia named for the island of Savu on its southern boundary. It is bounded by Savu and Rai Jua to the south, the islands of Rote and Timor to the east, Flores and the Alor archipelago to the north/northwest, and the island of Sumba to the west/northwest...
[By a line from the Southwest point of TimorTimorTimor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
to the Northeast point of RotiRote Islandright|thumb|300px|Satellite photo of RotiRote Island is an island of Indonesia, part of the East Nusa Tenggara province of the Lesser Sunda Islands. It has an area of . It lies northeast of the Australian coast and northeast of the Ashmore and Cartier Islands. The island is situated to the...
, through this island to its Southwest point] the Southeastern coast of Timor and the Southern limit of the Banda SeaBanda SeaThe Banda Sea is a sea in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, technically part of the Pacific Ocean but separated from it by hundreds of islands, as well as the Halmahera and Ceram Seas...
[A line from Tanjong Aro Oesoe, through Sermata to Tanjong Njadora the Southeast point of Lakov (8°16′S 128°14′E) along the South coasts of Lakov, Moa and Leti Islands 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 [limit] of the Arafura Sea
Arafura SeaThe Arafura Sea lies west of the Pacific Ocean overlying the continental shelf between Australia and New Guinea.-Geography:The Arafura Sea is bordered by Torres Strait and through that the Coral Sea to the east, the Gulf of Carpentaria to the south, the Timor Sea to the west and the Banda and Ceram...
[A line from Cape Don to Tanjong Aro Oesoe, the Southern point of Selaroe (Tanimbar IslandsTanimbar IslandsThe Tanimbar Islands, also called Timor Laut, are a group of about 65 islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia, including Fordata, Larat, Maru, Molu, Nuswotar, Selaru, Selu, Seira, Wotap, Wuliaru and Yamdena.-Geography:...
)].
On the South. The North coast of Australia
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
from Cape Don to Cape Londonderry (13°47′S 126°55′E).
On the West. A line from Cape Londonderry to the Southwest point of Roti Island
Rote Islandright|thumb|300px|Satellite photo of RotiRote Island is an island of Indonesia, part of the East Nusa Tenggara province of the Lesser Sunda Islands. It has an area of . It lies northeast of the Australian coast and northeast of the Ashmore and Cartier Islands. The island is situated to the...
(10°56′S 122°48′E).
Meteorology
Many tropical storms and cycloneCyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
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. . The petroleum production facilities are designed to withstand the effects of cyclones, although as a safety precaution production is usually reduced or temporarily halted and workers evacuated by helicopter to the mainland - usually to Darwin or Dili
Dili
Dili, spelled Díli in Portuguese, is the capital, largest city, chief port and commercial centre of East Timor.-Geography and Administration:Dili lies on the northern coast of Timor island, the easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands....
.
Reefs and islands
Tiwi Islands
The Tiwi Islands are part of Australia's Northern Territory, north of Darwin where the Arafura Sea joins the Timor Sea. They comprise Melville Island and Bathurst Island, with a combined area of ....
, off Australia and the Australian-governed Ashmore and Cartier Islands
Ashmore and Cartier Islands
The Territory of the Ashmore and Cartier Islands is an external territory of Australia consisting of two groups of small low-lying uninhabited tropical islands in the Indian Ocean situated on the edge of the continental shelf north-west of Australia and south of the Indonesian island of...
. It is thought that early humans reached Australia by "island-hopping" across the Timor Sea.
Scott and Seringapatam Reefs
Scott and Seringapatam Reefs
Scott and Seringapatam Reefs is a group of atoll-like reefs in the Timor Sea more than 300 km northwest of Cape Leveque, Western Australia, on the edge of the continental shelf. There are three or four separate reef structures, depending on whether Scott Reef Central is counted separately...
formed in the area and to the west on the same underwater platform is the Rowley Shoals
Rowley Shoals
The Rowley Shoals is a group of three atoll-like coral reefs south of the Timor Sea, about 260 km west of Broome on the northwestern Australian coast, centered around , on the edge of one of the widest continental shelves in the world. Each atoll covers an area of around 80 to 90 km² within the rim...
.
The Timor Current
The Timor Current is an oceanic current that runs south-west in the Timor Sea between the Indonesia archipelago and Australia. It is a major contributor to the Indonesian ThroughflowIndonesian throughflow
The Indonesian throughflow is important to global climate since it provides a low-latitude pathway for warm, fresh water to move from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean and this serves as the upper branch of the Pacific-Indian overturning circulation global heat conveyor belt...
that transports water from the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
to the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
.
Hydrocarbon reserves
Beneath the Timor Sea lie considerable reserves of oilPetroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
and gas
Gas
Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
. 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
Oil spill
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is mostly used to describe marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters...
when the Montara oil field
Montara oil spill
The Montara oil spill was an oil and gas leak and subsequent slick that took place in the Montara oil field in the Timor Sea, off the northern coast of Western Australia. It is considered one of Australia's worst oil disasters...
leaked oil, natural gas and condensate
Natural gas condensate
Natural-gas condensate is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in the raw natural gas produced from many natural gas fields....
from 21 August to 3 November 2009. During the spill 400 barrels 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 ConocoPhillipsConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States...
. The Bayu-Undan field is located approximately 500 km north-west of Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
. 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 500 km subsea natural gas pipeline
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
connecting the Bayu-Undan processing facility to a liquefied natural gas plant situated at Wickham Point in Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
harbour. Since the completion of the pipeline and the Darwin LNG plant in 2006, 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
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
under long-term sales contracts.
Other projects
AED OilAED Oil Limited
AED Oil Limited is an oil and gas exploration and development company based in Australia with international assets.It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with the code AED, and is a component of the S&P/ASX 200 index....
owns the large oil project at Puffin oilfield and Woodside Petroleum
Woodside Petroleum
Woodside Petroleum Limited is an Australian petroleum exploration and production company. It is a public company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and has its headquarters in Perth, Western Australia.-History:...
is producing oil at the Laminaria oilfield. The Greater Sunrise gas field, 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
Floating Production Storage and Offloading
A floating production, storage and offloading unit is a floating vessel used by the offshore industry for the processing of hydrocarbons and for storage of oil. A FPSO vessel is designed to receive hydrocarbons produced from nearby platforms or subsea template, process them, and store oil until it...
, however Xanana Gusmão
Xanana Gusmão
Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão GCL is a former militant who was the first President of East Timor, serving from May 2002 to May 2007...
, East Timor's Prime Minister opposes this plan and instead wants the gas to go to Dili
Dili
Dili, spelled Díli in Portuguese, is the capital, largest city, chief port and commercial centre of East Timor.-Geography and Administration:Dili lies on the northern coast of Timor island, the easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands....
via a pipeline
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
for processing.
Territorial dispute
Since discovery of petroleum in the Timor Sea in the 1970s, there have been disputes surrounding rights to ownership and exploitation of the resources situated in a part of the Timor Sea known as the Timor GapTimor Gap
The Timor Gap is often used to refer to an area of ocean between Timor, Indonesia and Australia. In actuality, it refers to a gap in a seabed boundary which Australia and Indonesia negotiated in 1972 – the part of the line they could not define because, Portugal, who governed East Timor, declined...
, 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
Timor Gap Treaty
Officially 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, the Timor Gap Treaty is a treaty between the governments of Australia and Indonesia...
. 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
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 May 20, 2002, the day East Timor attained its independence from United Nations rule, for joint petroleum exploration of the...
.
Australia's territorial claim extends to the bathymetric axis (the line of greatest sea-bed depth) at the Timor Trough. It overlaps East Timor's own territorial claim, which follows the former colonial power Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
in claiming that the dividing line should be midway between the two countries.
Timor Sea Treaty
The Timor Sea TreatyTimor 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 May 20, 2002, the day East Timor attained its independence from United Nations rule, for joint petroleum exploration of the...
, 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
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It has been criticised because the treaty did not finalise the maritime boundary
Maritime boundary
Maritime boundary is a conceptual means of division of the water surface of the planet into maritime areas that are defined through surrounding physical geography or by human geography. As such it usually includes areas of exclusive national rights over the mineral and biological resources,...
between East Timor and Australia.
World War II
During the 1940s the Japanese navyAxis naval activity in Australian waters
Although Australia was remote from the main battlefronts, there was considerable Axis naval activity in Australian waters during the Second World War. A total of 54 German and Japanese warships and submarines entered Australian waters between 1940 and 1945 and attacked ships, ports and other targets...
conducted air raids on Australia from ships in the Timor Sea. On the 19 February 1942 the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga
Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga
Kaga was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , named after the former Kaga Province in present-day Ishikawa Prefecture...
with other vessels, launched air strikes against Darwin, Australia, sinking nine ships, including the USS Peary. This bombing marked the beginning of the Battle of Timor in the Pacific theatre
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
See also
- Banda SeaBanda SeaThe Banda Sea is a sea in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, technically part of the Pacific Ocean but separated from it by hundreds of islands, as well as the Halmahera and Ceram Seas...
- The great Jukung race
External links
- Khamsi, Kathryn (2005). "A Settlement to the Timor Sea Dispute?". Harvard Asia Quarterly 9 (1) 6-23.
- East Timor is protective of oil, gas industry