Casual Navigation talks a bit about this: What Law Applies In International Waters? Essentially, the ship needs to be registered to a country and the laws of that country apply while on the ship. Most ships register themselves in a country with very lax laws, known as a “flag of convenience”. The laws of Libera, Panama, and Marshall Islands must be pretty convenient since those are countries most ships get registered.
What happens if you don’t register your ship? It’s the same as not having a passport. You’re going to have a hard time when you want to dock at a port.
Libera, Panama, and Marshall Islands must be pretty convenient since those are countries most ships get registered.
The people register ships care about minimum wage (none), taxes (low), and other such things. They want laws about murder in case the staff turns on the company.
But i think there are some crimes that will be prosecuted by your home country anyway, regardless of where the ship is registered. Like if 2 US citizens got on a ship registered to a country where murder is legal, and one killed the other, that person would still be prosecuted for murder when they returned to US soil or any country that has an extradition treaty with the US
i think there are some crimes that will be prosecuted by your home country anyway
It seems pretty rare, but some countries do have laws that essentially apply to citizens, regardless of where they are.
The PROTECT Act is a US law that makes it illegal for any US citizen to have sex with minors, regardless of where in the world it occurs. It’s essentially an anti-sex tourism law. Japan and South Korea warned their citizens that smoking cannabis in Canada will still result in prosecution after Canada legalized it.
Interesting factoid - UK murder law applies to everyone everywhere. Theoretically if an American killed somebody in say Egypt and they later passed through the UK, assuming the UK authorities had the evidence somehow they could choose to arrest AND prosecute the crime (if Egypt didn’t want to for example).
I suppose it depends on where you want to draw the line, even in the US some states have mutual combatant laws where, if you get in a fight with someone and they die, they kinda might not consider it murder. Probably at the mercy of prosecutors/juries I guess but technically it’s a real thing in at least 2 states.
Theoretically, the ship could be seized by the military of any country. Not following international laws means not being protected by international laws.
Yeah. Maybe solar? But it’s energy intensive. I sort of imagined these hypothetical folks were very wealthy and could afford tenders and the like to bring them food and fuel.
Casual Navigation talks a bit about this: What Law Applies In International Waters? Essentially, the ship needs to be registered to a country and the laws of that country apply while on the ship. Most ships register themselves in a country with very lax laws, known as a “flag of convenience”. The laws of Libera, Panama, and Marshall Islands must be pretty convenient since those are countries most ships get registered.
What happens if you don’t register your ship? It’s the same as not having a passport. You’re going to have a hard time when you want to dock at a port.
The people register ships care about minimum wage (none), taxes (low), and other such things. They want laws about murder in case the staff turns on the company.
But i think there are some crimes that will be prosecuted by your home country anyway, regardless of where the ship is registered. Like if 2 US citizens got on a ship registered to a country where murder is legal, and one killed the other, that person would still be prosecuted for murder when they returned to US soil or any country that has an extradition treaty with the US
It seems pretty rare, but some countries do have laws that essentially apply to citizens, regardless of where they are.
The PROTECT Act is a US law that makes it illegal for any US citizen to have sex with minors, regardless of where in the world it occurs. It’s essentially an anti-sex tourism law. Japan and South Korea warned their citizens that smoking cannabis in Canada will still result in prosecution after Canada legalized it.
Interesting factoid - UK murder law applies to everyone everywhere. Theoretically if an American killed somebody in say Egypt and they later passed through the UK, assuming the UK authorities had the evidence somehow they could choose to arrest AND prosecute the crime (if Egypt didn’t want to for example).
I don’t think there is such a country?
Sure there are. Like in some countries “honor killings” are legal, but that’s called murder in the US
I suppose it depends on where you want to draw the line, even in the US some states have mutual combatant laws where, if you get in a fight with someone and they die, they kinda might not consider it murder. Probably at the mercy of prosecutors/juries I guess but technically it’s a real thing in at least 2 states.
Well....
The US, if you’re a white police officer killing minorities
Lol
Oh, a state monopoly on violence with inadequate oversight is hardly unique to the US but when the government does it, they don’t count it as murder.
“I feared for my life!”
Its not a crime if a white-only jury acquits you!
/s
Panama is mostly because of cheaper rates to go through the canal, if I’m not mistaken.
What if I don’t want to dock at a port? What if I just want to live on a boat in the middle of international waters?
Theoretically, the ship could be seized by the military of any country. Not following international laws means not being protected by international laws.
I hope you brought water purifiers.
Lots of ships have water-makers that turn seawater into fresh water.
Some even brew beer from it. (I tried it on an AIDA cruise ship, it doesn’t taste any different from any other beer.)
I assume you’re generally trading diesel for it though.
Yeah. Maybe solar? But it’s energy intensive. I sort of imagined these hypothetical folks were very wealthy and could afford tenders and the like to bring them food and fuel.