Piracy warning

Press, 25 May 1977, Page 9

Piracy warning

NZPA-Reuter New York . Speakers at the reopening ''of the United Nations conference on the Law of the Sea i ■ said that unless agreement I)was reached before long on ’sharing ocean resources, .anarchy would break out . resembling the pirate era. ■ The president of the con- , ference, the Sri Lankan Am--1 bassador (Mr Hamilton Shirley Amerasinge) said at the .■opening of the eight-week ij sixth session that efforts ■ should be made to agree on , a sea-law treaty at this and one more working session. . I He expressed fear that fail:(ure to achieve such timely .(agreement would lead to .(anarchy on the seas and the Jmost turbulent period that i(has been known since the Hdays when piracy was ramlipaht. He called for the early conjclusion of a treaty in line with ithe United Nations principle (that the unclaimed oceans i are the common heritage of Mankind and that conforms with the Third World- ' promoted new' international economic order. The U.N. Secretary-General (Dr Kurt Waldheim), another speaker, said that failure to produce a convention would seriously undermine the crediibility of the United Nations as a forum for international (negotiations and raise the (prospect of ever-widening ■ claims to ocean space and resources.