US naval operations already regulated by several treaties and organizations that formed the basis of UNCLOS

UNCLOS relies for these purposes on dozens of such conventions, but this article will focus on five that are particularly significant and wide-ranging: the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (the SOLAS Convention); the InternationalManagement Code for the SafeOperation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (ISM Code); the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW Convention); the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL Convention); and the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code).

Before turning to the specifics, however, a few background topics need to be discussed. The first of these is the "organization that has probably had the most substantial direct effect on the law of the sea"-the International Maritime Organization. 39 The IMOis the "United Nations' specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships."40 The convention establishing the IMOwas adopted in 1948 and came into effect in 1958; the IMO's first meeting was held in 1959.Most of its work is done in committees, including the Maritime Safety Committee, the Marine Environment Protection Committee, and the Legal Committee. These bodies identify needs for new conventions or for amendments to existing ones. All of the important conventions to be discussed in this section were adopted under the auspices of the IMO, which today oversees the process of keeping these conventions abreast of developments in maritime and related industries.