the various aspects of the problem of pollution from ships. In 

 October an IMCO-sponsored conference completed work on the 1972 

 Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing 

 Collisions at Sea, which revised, expanded, and made binding on all 

 parties the international regulations governing safe navigation 

 precedures and shipping traffic lanes. It is expected that this 

 Convention and the further development of IMCO traffic separation 

 schemes will reduce the likelihood of maritime accidents and thus 

 the potential for pollution damage to coastal areas. 



Preparations are also continuing in the IMCO Legal Committee for 

 the completion in 1973 of a protocol expanding the 1969 Intervention 

 Convention, which presently deals only with oil, to other harmful 

 substances. The Convention now gives coastal states the right to 

 take action on the high seas as may be necessary to prevent, mitigate, 

 or eliminate grave and imminent danger to their coastlines or relat- 

 ed interests from pollution of the sea by oil, following maritime 

 casualties which may reasonably be expected to result in major 

 harmful consequences. The United States suggested expansion of 

 the Convention at the summer 1972 Seabed Committee meeting. 



Intensive preparations were also made during 1972 by the IMCO 

 Subcommittees on Marine Pollution and Ship Design and Equip- 

 ment for the completion in 1973 of the proposed Convention for the 

 Prevention of Pollution from Ships. In its present draft form, this 

 Convention would replace the existing 1954 Oil Pollution 

 Convention with stricter regulation of oil discharges. It would also 

 regulate those aspects of ship construction and operating pro- 

 cedures which contribute to the deliberate or accidental release of 

 oil. Furthermore, the Convention would regulate the carriage and 

 discharge of other harmful substances, and in some cases the 

 construction and operation of ships carrying such substances, as 

 well as place controls on the discharge of sewage and garbage from 

 vessels. 



Within IMCO preparations have begun to put together the 

 machinery necessary to efficiently administer the Fund created by 

 the 1971 Compensation Fund Convention to compensate victims of 

 oil pollution damage from ship discharges. 



International Marine Science Organizations and Bilateral 

 Agreements 



Although UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic 

 Commission has been operating for over a year under new statutes 

 which broadened its responsibilities, the Commission's work has 

 been productive only in a few areas, such as the Cooperative 

 Investigations of the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (CICAR), the 

 development of the Integrated Global Ocean Station System 

 (IGOSS), and the international exchange of oceanographic data. The 

 Commission's lack of activity in other areas can be attributed to a 



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