---

Exhibit 12.1

CERTIFICATION

I, Hendrik Van Alphen, certify that:

1.    I have reviewed this annual report on Form
20-F/A (Amendment No. 1) of Cardero Resource Corp.;

2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not
contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
this report;

3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements,
and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all
material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
of the company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.   The companys other certifying officer and I are
responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures
(as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control
over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and
15d-15(f)) for the company and have:

(a)    Designed
such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and
procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material
information relating to the company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period
in which this report is being prepared;

(b)   Designed such
internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over
financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable
assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation
of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles;

(c)    Evaluated the
effectiveness of the companys disclosure controls and procedures and presented
in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure
controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report
based on such evaluation; and

(d)    Disclosed in this report any change in
the companys internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
period covered by the annual report that has materially affected, or is
reasonably likely to materially affect, the companys internal control over
financial reporting; and

5.   The companys other certifying officer and I
have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
financial reporting, to the companys auditors and the audit committee of the
companys board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

(a)    All significant
deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal
control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
the companys ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
information; and

(b)    Any fraud,
whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a
significant role in the companys internal control over financial reporting.

Date: June 17, 2014

/s/ Hendrik Van AlphenPresident and Chief
Executive Officer

---