Statement of the Problem
Man is altering the character of the land, clouding the air and polluting the world's waterways. The seas have not escaped. The seas are receiving pollution of many kinds and from numerous sources. One source which concerns the public more and more is the rise in oil shipments with corresponding risks of spills of oil into the sea. Many have experienced oil and tar on beaches and have seen or read about oil and other wastes on the seas and waterways. The amounts of oil entering the seas from different sources are not exactly known. Nevertheless these discharges tend to be concentrated in harbour areas, in other coastal regions and along tanker and other commercial trade routes and efforts have been made to reduce discharges from ships. More action to control oil pollution of the seas must take place on an international scale and involve governments and the entire shipping industry in intensive and coordinated efforts. International regulations concerning pollution of the seas have,been worked out but the acceptance is not so widely spread, which appears from App 1.
