Over the past ten years at least the Law of the Sea has been a subject of continuing debate. This would have been inevitable even if there had been no UN Law of the Sea Conference to focus people's minds; the increasing importance of offshore hydrocarbon deposits, the potential exploitation of seabed mineral nodules and the competition to exploit fish stocks would have ensured that. Add to these factors the demands of the large number of newly formed coastal states, which did not see their interest well served by the law that had largely developed under the influence of the western maritime nations, and something clearly had to be done.