Law-of-the-sea work resumes in Geneva

Delegates from over 150 countries resumed the task of drafting the first comprehensive law of the sea. Diplomats said unofficial agreement had been reached on most of the 440 articles after more than seven years of talks, but no final accord can be achieved before the Reagan administration completes a sweeping review of the draft treaty.

Washington is concerned about proposed rules for mining the seabed minerals which lie beyond national limits and wants to make sure private companies are not excluded.

Issues still being discussed include rules for drawing sea boundaries where they overlap between nations; protection of investments in deep-sea mining before the treaty takes force; if the Palestine Liberation Organization can join; and preparations to set up an in ternational seabed authority.