Tributes have flooded in across the Pacific for Satya Nandan, one of the region’s most respected ambassadors who is credited withprotecting the region’s access to ocean resources and fisheries.

Satya Nandan, 83, was Fiji’s representative to the United Nations in the early 1970s and chaired the drafting of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). He was instrumental in the introduction of the 320km (200-mile) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) regime, which gave Pacific countries greater control over fishing in their waters.

“I don’t know of anyone who has done more to really influence and shape our oceans and fisheries in a way that reaches into the pockets and homes of Pacific Islanders than the late Ambassador Nandan,” said Transform Aqorau, the former deputy director-general of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency and now Solomon Islands representative to the UN.

Nandan was the first secretary-general of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the UN body set up to manage all mineral-related activities in the international seabed area, a position he held for 12 years until 2008.

Fiji’s prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, said Nandan was a “titan of diplomacy”.

“Satya’s legacy is tied directly to Fiji’s independent history. He will be remembered as a true global citizen, a wise mentor, and a proud son of the Pacific,” Bainimarama tweeted.

Fiji has lost a titan of diplomacy with the passing of my friend Satya Nandan — Fiji’s first diplomat to the @UN. Satya’s legacy is tied directly to Fiji's independent history. He will be remembered as a true global citizen, a wise mentor, and a proud son of the Pacific 🙏🇫🇯 pic.twitter.com/22WuOL88dT — Frank Bainimarama (@FijiPM) February 26, 2020

A Fiji-born Indian, Nandan held a law degree from the University of London and worked as a barrister in London’s Lincoln’s Inn. He also served as Fiji’s Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands (1976-1980) and as secretary for foreign affairs of Fiji.

Nandan helped draft the 1976 Forum Leaders Declaration on the Law of the Sea which ultimately led to the establishment of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency in 1979.

His fight for the exclusive economic zone benefitted island countries enormously, said Aqorau: “The tuna industries that we have in the region, the jobs that people have working in this industry and all the financial revenues that our governments now enjoy may be traced back to the efforts that he made for us in the United Nations.”

Michael Lodge, the secretary general of ISA, said Nandan’s “inspirational presence, his wisdom, and his softly-spoken style of finding solutions through dialogue, will be deeply missed by all his colleagues and friends”.

Nandan was accorded the rank of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1978 and was awarded Fiji’s highest honour, Companion of the Order of Fiji (CF), in 1997.

Born in 1936 and was the youngest of 10 children of Shiu and Raj Kaur Nandan of Samabula Suva. He was married to another Fijian diplomat, the late Shree Nandan and later to prominent journalist, Zarine Nandan who died two years ago. He is survived by his only son Kumar.