The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and International Shipping

摘要

In 2012 the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, widely known by the acronym UNCLOS, will celebrate its 30th anniversary since adoption. It is the most important international convention concerning the oceans and is in fact frequently described as the "constitution" for the world's oceans. It was negotiated with the realization that "the problems of ocean space are closely interrelated and need to be considered as a whole" (Preamble).