Rockall Bank dispute
Several countries claim rights to the seabed around Rockall, a small uninhabitable granite islet in the north Atlantic inside the United Kingdom’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The claimed countries are Ireland, Iceland and Denmark (for the Faroe Islands). They have all submitted or planned to submit documents to a UN body that handles limits of the continental shelf under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Under UNCLOS, rocks that cannot sustain human habitation or economic life do not generate an EEZ or a continental shelf. Iceland, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Denmark all joined UNCLOS (Iceland in 1985, Ireland in 1996, the UK in 1997, Denmark in 2004). A UN body called the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) held its 24th session in New York in 2009, and Iceland, Ireland and the UK had made submissions. Denmark was due to submit by the end of 2014.
In 1988, the UK and Ireland agreed on a sea boundaries deal that ignored Rockall, granting exploration rights over a large area. Iceland and Denmark dispute this arrangement. In 1997 the UK stated that Rockall could not be used as a base point for expanding its fisheries or continental shelf limits, effectively downgrading Rockall’s status and narrowing the UK’s claims. This is the only known case of a state explicitly downgrading a small island to a “rock” to limit its maritime zones.
Today, Rockall lies within the UK’s EEZ, but the wider issue concerns rights to the continental shelf on the ocean floor (where oil and gas, for example, would be found). Continental shelf rights are separate from fisheries and do not automatically follow an EEZ. The disputes over the Hatton-Rockall area involve the UK, Denmark (for the Faroe Islands), Ireland and Iceland.
The Faroe Islands, part of Denmark, have self-government in most matters, so Denmark represents their interests. In 1985 the Faroes announced a designating of seabed areas near Rockall as part of a broader “Hatton-Rockall Plateau” concept, arguing the area belongs to a microcontinent around the Faroe Islands.
Iceland’s approach is different. It does not claim Rockall itself for its own EEZ, but it does seek an extended continental shelf in the Hatton-Rockall region. Iceland argues that St. Kilda, a British islet, is not a valid base point for drawing lines to determine EEZs, so it should not affect Iceland’s claims. Iceland ratified UNCLOS in 1985 and has spent many years surveying the sea floor to map its claimed shelf. Iceland’s plan covers a very large area, well beyond Iceland’s land territory.
Iceland’s claim focuses on the extended continental shelf, while the UK’s position centers on the Rockall islet and the surrounding EEZ. The area that Iceland seeks overlaps with those of the UK, Ireland and Denmark, so any final boundaries depend on agreement or a decision by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). The CLCS does not settle overlapping claims on its own; it considers submitted submissions and can propose boundaries only where there is no dispute or where parties agree.
Over the years there have been informal talks among the four countries. In 2001 Iceland hosted a meeting with all four parties, the first such gathering. In 2007 negotiations took place in Copenhagen and were followed by discussions hosted by Ireland in Dublin, aimed at reaching a deal on how to divide the seabed. The talks are complicated by competing interests and the need to balance environmental, fishing and energy concerns. The parties were working toward a workable boundary, understanding that a final deal may be hard to reach and could take time. The latest noted informal meeting occurred in Reykjavik in May 2011, signaling continued efforts to resolve the dispute.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:14 (CET).