Almost 5 years after its adoption, the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage has a mere six state parties.¹

It requires 20 parties for the convention to come into force. Although there may be numerous reasons why states have failed to ratify the convention, perhaps the most common is simply because many developing states, even those rich in underwater cultural heritage, have little experience or expertise with protecting underwater cultural heritage, both practical and legal; and they are hesitant to ratify the convention without ensuring that they can implement the then-binding international obligations. This is particularly the case in the Asia-Pacific region, rich in underwater cultural heritage but as yet not represented in those states party to the convention. The need to encourage ratification of the convention in the Asia-Pacific is best described in the paper by Jeremy Green:

As part of UNESCO's promotion of the convention, a workshop was held in Hong Kong in November 2003, bringing together cultural heritage professionals and administrators from many Asia-Pacific nations with experts in the fields of maritime archaeology and the legal protection of underwater cultural heritage, many of whom participated in drafting the convention, including Carsten Lund, Lyndel Prott, Robert Grenier, Guido Carducci, Patrick O'Keefe, and Etienne Clément. Finishing the Interrupted Voyage is a collection of the papers presented at this workshop.

The dynamic of bringing together these different groups in the workshop is reflected in the organization of the presented papers. It provides a juxtaposition between practice in many states and the ideals presented in the convention, and particularly in the archaeological Rules in the Annex to the Convention.

A core section of the publication is a collection of papers from a variety of Asia-Pacific states. Most papers evince a common structure: Generally, the subject matter is the discoveries and excavations of shipwrecks along their coasts, with only a cursory discussion of the legal structure applicable to this heritage. Although this may simply reflect the mandate given to the presenters, it is also likely to reflect the need in many of these states for education and information about legal structures and the convention itself. The range of activities and the administration of maritime archaeology in the states represented vary considerably. A comprehensive account of the activities, and some consideration of the legal structure, is presented for Sri Lanka, India, and China. However, there are those states that clearly have activities directed at the underwater cultural heritage beginning in their waters, even though the legal structures may be incapable of adequately protecting the emerging finds. This is partly the case for Malaysia and particularly the case for Thailand, Vietnam, and Vanuatu. The latter, in particular, may be representative of a number of Asia-Pacific states, including those unable to participate in the workshop, when its representative stated, “I come from a very small country … where there are no professional marine archaeologists, no proper marine excavation has ever taken place; no marine museums exist and where, to my knowledge, there has never been proper, extensive research and documentation of underwater cultural heritage sites” (p. 59). Much of this may even apply to much larger Asia-Pacific states such as Indonesia.

The case of Vietnam provides interesting reading. In reviewing the excavations in Vietnam, Nguyen Dinh Chien remarks that these “have proved the successful cooperation for Vietnamese underwater archaeology between us in Viet Nam with organizations and specialists around the world” (p. 58). However, what becomes evident in the paper is that these organizations and specialists include well-known salvors (p. 55); and success is measured, at least in one instance, by the production of a report that appears in an auction catalog of Christie's (p. 56). Editor Lyndel Prott notes, “the Vietnamese programme of underwater recovery to date appears to diverge from the principles established by the Annex to the Convention”; but it is unclear from the tenor of the paper whether the Vietnamese representative appreciated this when the paper was delivered. Although not as alarming, it was interesting to note that “hobby-diving and ‘treasure-hunting’ have not been excluded from the territorial sea in Japan” (p. 54). Assistance and expertise is thus needed not only by developing states but also by some wealthy developed states that are only now beginning to appreciate the need to protect this valuable and finite resource.

An encouraging feature of many states' discussions of activities in their waters is the extent of cooperation with other states or institutions from other states. Notable is the cooperation between China and Japan on a number of excavations (p. 82) and the participation of Australian Museums and Universities in the training of professionals in many of its Asia-Pacific neighbors (e.g., Sri Lanka, p. 38; China, p. 82). In accordance with article 21 of the convention, calling for international cooperation in training, Sri Lanka offered to host a field school for interested parties from other Asia-Pacific states; and the possibility of a similar initiative in India was mooted (p. 156). The urge is for the necessity of cooperation, collaboration, and coratification in the region.

The converse of the discussion about the Asia-Pacific states' experiences in the dynamic of the workshop is the sections that discuss the legal protection of underwater cultural heritage. The convention itself is not discussed at length, but Patrick O'Keefe provides a succinct overview of the convention's essential features (p. 90). Rather, the consideration of the convention begins with a personal account of the difficulties of negotiating and drafting such an instrument from Carsten Lund, the chair of the Negotiating Conference, throughout its sittings (p. 14). This reflective personal account, which includes recalling the difficulties caused by malfunctioning photocopiers at the 11th hour, gives the consideration of this legal document a more human touch, underlining the imperfections that inevitably exist in such human endeavors.

Further consideration of the convention is split into three sections. The first, with Carsten Lund's paper, addresses the legal nature and obligations of the convention, concentrating on two areas that have been controversial and raised by some states as reasons against ratifying the convention: the relationship of the convention with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the place of the law of salvage and the law of finds within the conventional regime. Keun-Gwan Lee provides a succinct and persuasive argument with regard to the former (p. 20), whereas Guido Garducci addresses the latter, concluding that article 4 of the convention, which relates to the nonapplication of the law of salvage, provides a compromise position allowing differing national interpretations of the article that should allow for a broad ratification of the convention (p. 27).

The second section on the convention, with Patrick O'Keefe's overview, includes an account of states' duties to take action with regard to those activities that are not directed at underwater cultural heritage but incidentally may cause damage, such as fishing, mining, and military and tourist activities. Bill Jeffrey clearly sets out states' obligations under the convention in relation to these activities; as an example of good practice, he uses Hong Kong's legislative requirement that offshore development planning requires the inclusion of a Maritime Archaeological Investigation as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment process (p. 97). This section also contains a paper on the relationship between the 2001 convention and the 1970 Illicit Trafficking Convention by Etienne Clément. Using infamous examples such as the Geldermalsen and Tek Sing, he illustrates how the 2001 convention can be used in conjunction with the 1970 convention to strengthen the fight against the illicit trade in cultural heritage and the more recent trade in underwater cultural heritage emerging from the Indian and Pacific oceans (p. 100).

The third section of the convention, and arguably the most important aspect of this international endeavor, is a consideration of the archaeological rules contained in the annex to the convention. Robert Grenier provides an account of the development of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Charter on the Protection and Management of Underwater Cultural Heritage (1996) and its use as a basis for the Rules in the Annex to the Convention. Grenier, a member of the drafting committee at ICOMOS and a participant in the UNESCO conferences, provides a detailed explanation of two central rules in the annex: 1) the rule requiring that the first management option is in situ preservation of underwater cultural heritage, and 2) the rule against commercialization of underwater cultural heritage for trade or speculation. Gernier's account of the rule for in situ preservation is well described and illustrated using a number of examples from Canada, including such well-known wrecks as the Breadalbane, Empress of Ireland, Hamilton, Scourge, and the San Juan in Red Bay. Importantly, in the context of the workshop that seeks to illustrate the advantages of the convention to developing states, Grenier uses the example of the Breadalbane and the proposed tourist revenue derived from on-site dives to explain the possible commercial and indirect tourist revenue for a state economy compared to the decline in such Florida tourist revenues following the almost complete salvage and commercial sale of recovered underwater cultural heritage. Once the resource has been sold, particularly in a foreign state, it no longer is capable of providing any further economic benefit to the state in which it was found. Grenier clearly makes his point using this example; and it is a little unfortunate that the introduction to this paper repeats the inflammatory rhetoric that so often arises in the conflict between the archaeological community and those who might view underwater cultural heritage as susceptible to private involvement leading to commercial gain, who only are treasure-hunters in an extreme form (p. 110). In an area of the world where commercial operators or salvors are prevalent—engaged either illegally or, as is often the case, in cooperation with the state—a need exists to persuade and educate rather than attack and inflame if the convention is to be seriously considered.

The remaining two papers on the rules in the annex persuade and educate. Both Hans van Tilberg and Jeremy Green explain the remaining rules in the annex and how they might be incorporated into a practical management structure for Asia-Pacific states (pp. 121, 126). Richard Engelhardt pointed out in the keynote speech at the workshop that because the rules in the annex (and ICOMOS Charter) are widely implemented, even by those states that do not intend to ratify the convention, these papers may be the most important of the workshop if they persuade participating states that their implementation is a worthwhile and achievable exercise.

Although adoption of the rules in the annex is welcomed, ratification of the convention is preferred. The final sections of this publication address the urgent need for ratification, beginning with Lyndel Prott revisiting the issue of salvors' prevalence in the Asia-Pacific region and the economic benefits that may accrue from in situ preservation and the application of the convention. Prott's persuasive call for ratification provides an informative explanation of the development of international cultural heritage law in general and the 2001 convention in particular, illustrating the synergies between the various conventions and the promising advantages in a wider adoption of all these conventions.

The workshop in 2003 developed an action plan, which essentially required participating states to set into motion a process of examining the convention and its possible advantages and to promote awareness and discussion of the convention with the aim of encouraging its ratification. Indications at the workshop revealed that a number of the Asia-Pacific states had intended to ratify the convention, including China (p. 3), Sri Lanka (p. 48), Cambodia, Philippines (p. 160), and possibly Malaysia (p. 61). It is unfortunate that almost 3 years after the completion of the workshop, no Asia-Pacific state has ratified the convention. It is hoped that this publication may reinvigorate the issue in this region and further afield, because the publication as whole provides a basic outline of the issues that are replicated in many other developing regions of the world. It is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in underwater cultural heritage; but it is a more compulsory read for anyone, especially from developing states, involved in the management and protection of underwater cultural heritage or involved in the review and decision making process for the adoption of international conventions.