ABSTRACT

The discussions on energy, mineral, and living resources included the tacit assumption that the ocean has remained an unregulated commons for transportation. Indeed it has been an assumption if not a determination on the part of the industry that transportation is set apart from other uses of the sea, and that its independence is sacrosanct except for self-imposed regulation. Dr. Edgar Gold expanded upon the theme of commons pollution and traffic in his conference presentation entitled "Marine Transportation in the Pacific." The "Asian rim" oil transportation to Japan from the Middle East has to transit several danger spots, ranging from the shallows of the Straits of Malacca, the currents of the Sunda and Lombok channels to the traffic density and high accident rate of the Japanese waters. The Pacific marine transportation pattern is, of course, closely allied to existing international trading relationships.