Sea Bed T 67
The Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Seabed and Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof (Seabed Treaty)
(Seabed Treaty) was a multilateral agreement between the U.S., the U.S.S.R., and the U.K. The Treaty forbids States Parties to place any nuclear weapons or any other types of weapons of mass destruction or structures, launching installations, or other facilities specifically designed for storing, testing, or using such weapons on the seabed or ocean floor or in the subsoil thereof, beyond a 12-mile territorial zone. The advances in the technology of oceanography and the increased interest in the resources of the ocean floor in the 1960s led to concern that the absence of clearly established rules of law might lead to a dispute. And there were fears that nations might use the seabed as a new environment for military installations. On December 18, 1967, the U.N. General Assembly established an ad hoc committee to study ways of reserving the seabed for peaceful purposes, aiming to ensure that the exploration and use of the seabed and the ocean floor should be managed in accordance with the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and in the interests of maintaining international peace and security. The Seabed Arms Control Treaty was opened for signature in Washington, London and Moscow on February 11, 1971. It entered into force May 18, 1972.