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VIHO VIILL MINE THE
Decisions made in the next
few months may determine
whether nations peacefully
resolve ownership and con–
trol of the oceans' riches!
by
Donald D. Schroeder
W
HO
rea lly owns the
oceans? What
au–
thority
has the right
to dicta te how na–
t ions use and control the
seas? Where does a nation's
coastal jurisdiction stop?
For decades the ownership
and control of more than 70
percent of the earth 's sur–
face- the ocean and ocean bot–
toms-has become a growing
d ispute. And no wonder!
The ocean floor is potentially
the greatest treasure trove of
untapped, exploitable mineraJs in
the world!
A new kind of battle is sudden–
ly shaping up for the control of
the riches of the seabed.
Heated Dispute
Sufficient tec h no logy a lready
exists, and more is on the d rawing
boards, whereby the highl y indus–
trialized nations can mine the
oceans and gain greater mineral
security in a n unstable world.
With or without international reg–
u lations they plan to go ahead.
At the same time, the develop–
ing nations, withou t ocean-mining
technology or financing, heatedly
demand that a supranational
seabed agency be formed. lts pur–
pose? To control and share the
weaJth of deep-sea ocean mining
as the "common heritage of all
mankind."
This 120-nation bloc , sorne–
times referred to as the Third
World, hopes to be able to domí–
nate or influence such a supra–
agency. The bloc wants a suprana-
tionaJ, pol itical authority to en–
force what is viewed by the Third
World as a more equitable redis–
tribution of the ocean's wealth ,
and help propeJ them on their
pathway to a New InternationaJ
Economic Order.
Law of the Sea?
Legally, the sea has been a quag–
mire. For more than eight years,
t he Law of the Sea Conference,
under t he auspices of the Un ited
Nations, has been trying to resolve
all aspects and uses of the sea by a
convention of internationaJly ac–
cepted law.
More than 150 nations-around
120 of them coastaJ states-have
been involved in hammering out
320 articles, not to mention nine
annexes, in
hard~ften
behind–
the-scenes-bargaining and con–
cessions. The U.N. convention
being prepared for signing by pa.r–
ticipants is a take-it-all-or-none
treaty. Despite eight years of labo–
rious efforts a few h ighly contro–
versia! issues regarding the politi-