Oceans and the law of the sea A/RES/70/235 intentional and accidental damage from shipping and other activities and that the maintenance, including the repair, of these cables is important, noting that these matters have been brought to the attention of States at various workshops and seminars, and conscious of the need for States to adopt national laws and regulations to protect submarine cables and render their wilful damage or damage by c ulpable negligence punishable offences, Noting the importance of the delineation of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles and that it is in the broader interest of the international community that coastal States with a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles submit information on the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (the Commission), and welcoming the submissions to the Commission by a considerable number of States Parties to the Convention on the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, that the Commission has continued to fulfil its role, including of making recommendations to coastal States, and that the summaries of recommendations are being made publicly available, 13 Noting also that many coastal States Parties have submitted preliminary information indicative of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, as provided for in the decision of the eighteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention regarding the workload of the Commission and the ability of States, particularly developing States, to fulfil the requirements of article 4 of annex II to the Convention, as well as the decision contained in SPLOS/72, paragraph (a), 14 Noting further that some coastal States may continue to face particular challenges in relation to preparing and presenting submissions to the Commission, Noting that financial and technical assistance may be sought by developing countries for activities in relation to preparing and presenting submissions to the Commission, including through the voluntary trust fund established by the General Assembly in its resolution 55/7 of 30 October 2000 for the purpose of facilitating the preparation of submissions to the Commission for developing States, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, and compliance with article 76 of the Convention, as well as other accessible international assistance, Recognizing the importance of the trust funds established pursuant to resolution 55/7 in facilitating the participation of members of the Commission from developing States in the meetings of the Commission and in fulfilling the requirements of article 4 of annex II to the Convention, while noting with appreciation the recent contributions made to them, Reaffirming the importance of the work of the Commission for coastal States and for the international community, Recognizing that practical difficulties can arise when there is a considerable delay between the preparation of submissions and their consideration by the Commission, including in retaining expertise up to and during the consideration of the submissions by the Commission, _______________ 13 Available from the web page of the Commission maintained by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. 14 SPLOS/183. 5/53