Survival cmd the Sea
223
divided among inter—governmental organizations both within the
family of the United Nations and outside it. Although the major
marine programmes of the United Nations are in Unesco and P AO,
oceanography is not an important part of the overall effort in either
organization. This same fragmentation of effort occurs in bodies
concerned with other maritime affairs. Thus the responsibilities of
the International Labour Organization of the United Nations
include conditions of work on board ships, and the International
Atomic Energy Agency keeps watch on radio—active wastes; but
they are both overlapped to some extent by the Inter-governmental
Marine Consultative Organization (IMCO) which covers both
pollution by some industrial wastes and problems related to marine
transportation.
The comparatively recent origin of many international organiza—
tions—the Charter of the United Nations was signed on june 26,
1945—is often revealed in the legislative background to international
agreements. An excellent example, relevant to this chapter, is the
convention on oil pollution, mentioned in the previous section.
Dr K. G. Brummage of British Petroleum traced the history of this
agreement in a paper given at the 1968 Summer Meeting of the
Institute of Petroleum.
Early attempts, rst by the United States in 1926 and then by the
United Kingdom in 1934,
to reach an international agreement on
the discharge of oil at sea were complete failures. Further attempts
were interrupted by the Second World War. It was not until 1954
that the British Government made another approach as a result of
recommendations of a committee which had reported on pollution
the previous year. At the British Government’s request, forty
nations gathered in London. At the end of the conference they
announced the International Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution of the Sea by Oil. The Convention came into force on
July 26, 1958, one year after the agreed“minimum number of states
had established the necessary national legislation. IMCO, the
appropriate international organization, did not take charge until
1959 when the British Government transferred the Convention to
it. In 1962 a further conference was called by IMCO to make
amendments designed to strengthen the Convention. The amended
convention did not come into force for ve years although it was put
in action earlier by the United Kingdom. By the end of 1968, tliirty—
eight nations had accepted the Convention in its amendcd form.
223
divided among inter—governmental organizations both within the
family of the United Nations and outside it. Although the major
marine programmes of the United Nations are in Unesco and P AO,
oceanography is not an important part of the overall effort in either
organization. This same fragmentation of effort occurs in bodies
concerned with other maritime affairs. Thus the responsibilities of
the International Labour Organization of the United Nations
include conditions of work on board ships, and the International
Atomic Energy Agency keeps watch on radio—active wastes; but
they are both overlapped to some extent by the Inter-governmental
Marine Consultative Organization (IMCO) which covers both
pollution by some industrial wastes and problems related to marine
transportation.
The comparatively recent origin of many international organiza—
tions—the Charter of the United Nations was signed on june 26,
1945—is often revealed in the legislative background to international
agreements. An excellent example, relevant to this chapter, is the
convention on oil pollution, mentioned in the previous section.
Dr K. G. Brummage of British Petroleum traced the history of this
agreement in a paper given at the 1968 Summer Meeting of the
Institute of Petroleum.
Early attempts, rst by the United States in 1926 and then by the
United Kingdom in 1934,
to reach an international agreement on
the discharge of oil at sea were complete failures. Further attempts
were interrupted by the Second World War. It was not until 1954
that the British Government made another approach as a result of
recommendations of a committee which had reported on pollution
the previous year. At the British Government’s request, forty
nations gathered in London. At the end of the conference they
announced the International Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution of the Sea by Oil. The Convention came into force on
July 26, 1958, one year after the agreed“minimum number of states
had established the necessary national legislation. IMCO, the
appropriate international organization, did not take charge until
1959 when the British Government transferred the Convention to
it. In 1962 a further conference was called by IMCO to make
amendments designed to strengthen the Convention. The amended
convention did not come into force for ve years although it was put
in action earlier by the United Kingdom. By the end of 1968, tliirty—
eight nations had accepted the Convention in its amendcd form.