Treaty ahoy! UN states agree 'historic' deal to protect high seas

Activists from Greenpeace display a banner outside the United Nations headquarters during negotiations on a treaty to protect the high seas.

UNITED NATIONS, US: UN member states finally agreed Saturday, following years of talks, to a text on the first international treaty to protect the high seas, a fragile and vital treasure that covers nearly half the planet.

"The ship has reached the shore," conference chair Rena Lee announced at the UN headquarters in New York shortly before 9.30pm (9.30am Sunday in Thailand), to loud and lengthy applause from delegates.