Pacem in Maribus conference returns to its roots

After more than three decades, the Corinthia Palace Hotel hosted the 32nd edition of the International Ocean Institute's Pacem in Maribus Convention, earlier this month.

The first Pacem in Maribus Conference, held at the Corinthia in 1970, was organised by Elisabeth Mann Borgese and by Arvid Pardo, who was Malta's first Permanent Representative to the UN.

Three years earlier, Prof. Pardo had proposed to the UN that the seabed constitutes part of the "common heritage of mankind", which eventually led to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

This immortalised Prof. Pardo as the "Father of the Law of the Sea Conference".

At that first Malta conference, Ms Mann Borgese, who was recognised as a foremost expert and authority on maritime law and policy, founded the Malta-based International Ocean Institute (IOI), which was set up in 1972.

This year's edition of the Pacem in Maribus Convention was led by Awni Behnam and Youri Oliounine, IOI president and executive director respectively.

The theme was Waves of Change: Women, Youth and the Sea.

The convention was addressed by former President of Portugal Mario Soares, the institute's patron, and by Salvino Busuttil, Malta's delegate to the International Ocean Institute, among others.