Immunity of Vessels

Immunity of Vessels in 2011

United States views on international law (based on the document “Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law”): In February 2011, the United States received a diplomatic note from the ministry of foreign affairs of the Republic of Malta concerning the planned visit of T/S State of Maine to Malta in May 2011. The note conveyed the understanding of the ministry of foreign affairs that the T/S State of Maine did not meet the criteria for diplomatic clearance (recognizing its sovereign immunity) because the vessel was being used by the Maine Maritime Academy, a fee-billing institution. The United States responded with a March 21, 2011 diplomatic note providing more information about the planned visit of T/S State of Maine and the application of international law to that visit:

Under international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a vessel that is owned or operated by a state and used only on government noncommercial service is entitled to sovereign immunity. …The T/S State of Maine is owned by the United States Government and has been provided to the Maine Maritime Academy under the provisions of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, as amended… The purpose of the vessel's mission is to provide educational training to students… Maine Maritime Academy is a public educational institution. The vessel is not engaging in commercial service in the course of its at-sea mission…

…The United States notes that whether the Academy is a fee-billing institution is not relevant to whether this government-owned vessel is entitled to sovereign immunity while engaged exclusively in a maritime educational training cruise in furtherance of the government policies and objectives reflected in the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, as amended.

The United States would like to further convey that port visits by such training vessels is a long-standing practice in which requests for diplomatic clearances are routinely requested and received from port nations. In the past four years, for the T/S State of Maine and similarly situated U.S. training vessels, the United States has requested and received diplomatic clearances for more than 60 port calls in 30 countries.…

In response, the ministry informed the U.S. in an April 20, 2011 note that diplomatic clearance had been granted for the planned visit of T/S State of Maine.