United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

 

Article 98
Duty to render assistance

1. Every State shall require the master of a ship flying its flag, in so
far as he can do so without serious danger to the ship, the crew or the
passengers:

(a) to render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being
lost;
(b) to proceed with all possible speed to the rescue of persons in
distress, if informed of their need of assistance, in so far as such
action may reasonably be expected of him;
(c) after a collision, to render assistance to the other ship, its crew
and its passengers and, where possible, to inform the other ship of
the name of his own ship, its port of registry and the nearest port
at which it will call.

2. Every coastal State shall promote the establishment, operation and
maintenance of an adequate and effective search and rescue service
regarding safety on and over the sea and, where circumstances so require,
by way of mutual regional arrangements co-operate with neighbouring States
for this purpose.

Article 99
Prohibition of the transport of slaves

Every State shall take effective measures to prevent and punish the
transport of slaves in ships authorized to ny its flag and to prevent the
unlawful use of its flag for that purpose. Any slave taking refuge on board
any ship, whatever its flag, shall ipso facto be free.

Article 100
Duty to co-operate in the repression of Piracy

All States shall co-operate to the fullest possible extent in the
repression of Piracy on the High Seas or in any other place outside the
jurisdiction of any State.

Article 101
Definition of piracy

Piracy consists of any of the following acts:

(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation,
committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private
ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
(i) on the High Seas , against another ship or aircraft, or against
persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside
the jurisdiction of any State;
(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of
an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or
aircraft;
(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described
in subparagraph (a) or (b).

Article 102
Piracy by a warship, government ship or government aircraft
whose crew has mutinied

The acts of piracy, as defined in article 101, committed by a warship,
government ship or government aircraft whose crew has mutinied and taken
control of the ship or aircraft are assimilated to acts committed by a
private ship or aircraft.

Article 103
Definition of a pirate ship or aircraft

A ship or aircraft is considered a pirate ship or aircraft if it is
intended by the persons in dominant control to be used for the purpose of
committing one of the acts referred to in article 101. The same applies if
the ship or aircraft has been used to commit any such act, so long as it
remains under the control of the persons guilty of that act.

Article 104
Retention or loss of the nationality of a pirate ship or aircraft

A ship or aircraft may retain its nationality although it has become a
pirate ship or aircraft. The retention or loss of nationality is determined
by the law of the State from which such nationality was derived.

Article 105
Seizure of a pirate ship or aircraft

On the high seas, or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of any
State, every State may seize a pirate ship or aircraft, or a ship or
aircraft taken by piracy and under the control of pirates, and arrest the
persons and seize the property on board. The courts of the State which
carried out the seizure may decide upon the penalties to be imposed, and
may also determine the action to be taken with regard to the ships,
aircraft or property, subject to the rights of third parties acting in good
faith.

Article 106
Liability for seizure without adequate grounds

Where the seizure of a ship or aircraft on suspicion of piracy has been
effected without adequate grounds, the State making the seizure shall be
liable to the State the nationality of which is possessed by the ship or
aircraft for any loss or damage caused by the seizure.

Article 107
Ships and aircraft which are entitled to seize on account of piracy
A seizure on account of piracy may be carried out only by warships or
military aircraft, or other ships or aircraft clearly marked and
identifiable as being on government service and authorized to that effect.

Article 108
Illicit traffic in narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances

1. All States shall co-operate in the suppression of illicit traffic in
narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances engaged in by ships on the high
seas contrary to international conventions.

2. Any State which has reasonable grounds for believing that a ship flying
its flag is engaged in illicit traffic in narcotic drugs or psychotropic
substances may request the co-operation of other States to suppress such
traffic.

Article 109
Unauthorized broadcasting from the high seas

1. All States shall co-operate in the suppression of unauthorized
broadcasting from the high seas.

2. For the purposes of this Convention, “unauthorized broadcasting”means
the transmission of sound radio or television broadcasts from a ship or
installation on the high seas intended for reception by the general public
contrary to international regulations, but excluding the transmission of
distress calls.

3. Any person engaged in unauthorized broadcasting may be prosecuted before
the court of:

(a) the flag State of the ship;
(b) the State of registry of the installation;
(c) the State of which the person is a national;
(d) any State where the transmissions can be received; or
(e) any State where authorized radio communication is suffering
interference.

4. On the high seas, a State having jurisdiction in accordance with
paragraph 3 may, in conformity with article 110, arrest any person or ship
engaged in unauthorized broadcasting and seize the broadcasting apparatus.

Article 110
Right of visit

1. Except where acts of interference derive from powers conferred by
treaty, a warship which encounters on the high seas a foreign ship, other
than a ship entitled to complete immunity in accordance with articles 95
and 96, is not justified in boarding it unless there is reasonable ground
for suspecting that:

(a) the ship is engaged in piracy;
(b) the ship is engaged in the slave trade;
(c) the ship is engaged in unauthorized broadcasting and the flag State
of the warship has jurisdiction under article 109;
(d) the ship is without nationality; or
(e) though flying a foreign flag or refusing to show its flag, the ship
is, in reality, of the same nationality as the warship.

2. In the cases provided for in paragraph 1, the warship may proceed to
verify the ship’s right to fly its flag. To this end, it may send a boat
under the command of an officer to the suspected ship. If suspicion remains
after the documents have been checked, it may proceed to a further
examination on board the ship, which must be carried out with all possible
consideration.

3. If the suspicions prove to be unfounded, and provided that the ship
boarded has not committed any act justifying them, it shall be compensated
for any loss or damage that may have been sustained.

4. These provisions apply mutatis mutandis to military aircraft.

5. These provisions also apply to any other duly authorized ships or
aircraft clearly marked and identifiable as being on government service.

Article 111
Right of hot pursuit

1. The hot pursuit of a foreign ship may be undertaken when the competent
authorities of the coastal State have good reason to believe that the ship
has violated the laws and regulations of that State. Such pursuit must be
commenced when the foreign ship or one of its boats is within the internal
waters, the archipelagic waters, the territorial sea or the contiguous zone
of the pursuing State, and may only be continued outside the territorial
sea or the contiguous zone if the pursuit has not been interrupted. It is
not necessary that, at the time when the foreign ship within the
territorial sea or the contiguous zone receives the order to stop, the ship
giving the order should likewise be within the territorial sea or the
contiguous zone. If the foreign ship is within a contiguous zone, as
defined in article 33, the pursuit may only be undertaken if there has been
a violation of the rights for the protection of which the zone was
established.

2. The right of hot pursuit shall apply mutatis mutandis to violations in
the Exclusive Economic Zone or on the Continental Shelf , including safety
zones around Continental Shelf installations, of the laws and regulations
of the coastal State applicable in accordance with this Convention to the
Exclusive Economic Zone or the continental shelf, including such safety
zones.

3. The right of hot pursuit ceases as soon as the ship pursued enters the
territorial sea of its own State or of a third State.

4. Hot pursuit is not deemed to have begun unless the pursuing ship has
satisfied itself by such practicable means as may be available that the
ship pursued or one of its boats or other craft working as a team and using
the ship pursued as a mother ship is within the limits of the territorial
sea, or, as the case may be, within the contiguous zone or the exclusive
economic zone or above the continental shelf. The pursuit may only be
commenced after a visual or auditory signal to stop has been given at a
distance which enables it to be seen or heard by the foreign ship.

5. The right of hot pursuit may be exercised only by warships or military
aircraft, or other ships or aircraft clearly marked and identifiable as
being on government service and authorized to that effect.

6. Where hot pursuit is effected by an aircraft:

(a) the provisions of paragraphs 1 to 4 shall apply mutatis mutandis,
(b) the aircraft giving the order to stop must itself actively pursue the
ship until a ship or another aircraft of the coastal State, summoned
by the aircraft, arrives to take over the pursuit, unless the
aircraft is itself able to arrest the ship. It does not suffice to
justify an arrest outside the territorial sea that the ship was
merely sighted by the aircraft as an offender or suspected offender,
if it was not both ordered to stop and pursued by the aircraft itself
or other aircraft or ships which continue the pursuit without
interruption.

7. The release of a ship arrested within the jurisdiction of a State and
escorted to a port of that State for the purposes of an inquiry before the
competent authorities may not be claimed solely on the ground that the
ship, in the course of its voyage, was escorted across a portion of the
exclusive economic zone or the high seas, if the circumstances rendered
this necessary.

8. Where a ship has been stopped or arrested outside the territorial sea in
circumstances which do not justify the exercise of the right of hot
pursuit, it shall be compensated for any loss or damage that may have been
thereby sustained.

 

Author: international