The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. As of July 2024, 169 States and the European Union are parties.
Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private parties operating or using ocean-going ships. While each legal jurisdiction usually has its own legislation governing maritime matters, the international nature of the topic and the need for uniformity has, since 1900, led to considerable international maritime law developments, including numerous multilateral treaties.
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978, or "MARPOL 73/78" is one of the most important international marine environmental conventions. It was developed by the International Maritime Organization with an objective to minimize pollution of the oceans and seas, including dumping, oil and air pollution.
Flag of convenience (FOC) is a business practice whereby a ship's owners register a merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ensign of that country, called the flag state. The term is often used pejoratively, and although common, the practice is sometimes regarded as contentious.
Freedom of the seas is a principle in the law of the sea. It stresses freedom to navigate the oceans. It also disapproves of war fought in water. The freedom is to be breached only in a necessary international agreement.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) is a type of agreement between two (bilateral) or more (multilateral) parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action. It is often used either in cases where parties do not imply a legal commitment or in situations where the parties cannot create a legally enforceable agreement. It is a more formal alternative to a gentlemen's agreement.
The flag state of a merchant vessel is the jurisdiction under whose laws the vessel is registered or licensed, and is deemed the nationality of the vessel. A merchant vessel must be registered and can only be registered in one jurisdiction, but may change the jurisdiction in which it is registered. The flag state has the authority and responsibility to enforce regulations over vessels registered under its flag, including those relating to inspection, certification, and issuance of safety and pollution prevention documents. As a ship operates under the laws of its flag state, these laws are applicable if the ship is involved in an admiralty case.
The United States Coast Guard is the coastal defense, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement branch of the United States Armed Forces and is one of the country's eight uniformed services. It carries out three basic roles, which are further subdivided into eleven statutory missions. The three roles are:
The National Cargo Bureau (NCB) a not-for-profit marine surveying organization charged with assisting the U.S. Coast Guard with carrying out the provisions of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. The NCB was formed by a group of marine underwriters and the Coast Guard for the purpose of reducing losses of grain ships. Any ship loading grain in the US sailing for a foreign port must have a certificate issued by the NCB in order to sail( See U.S. Coast Guard Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular No. 5-94 - NVIC 05-94 ). The NCB acts with and enforces the regulations of the Coast Guard in this area. Grain ships have unique stability issues and are prone to capsize if loaded improperly. Headquartered in New York City, the NCB has offices throughout United States.
Sector Commander is the position title of the commanding officer of a United States Coast Guard Sector, usually of the rank of Captain (O-6). The Sector Commander's second-in-command is the Deputy Sector Commander. Also reporting directly to the Sector Commander are the Command Master Chief (CMC), the Senior Reserve Officer, and the Sector's Auxiliary Coordinator.
Maritime Security Regimes are codes and conventions of behavior agreed upon by coastal states to provide a degree of security within territorial waters and on the high seas.
United States Coast Guard activities Europe (ACTEUR) is a Coast Guard Marine Safety unit located in Schinnen, The Netherlands.
The port of Hong Kong is a deep water port located in southern China. It is one of the hub ports serving the South-East and East Asia region, and is a gateway to mainland China. The city of Hong Kong began as a colony of the United Kingdom. It was a free port, and became an international trade center connecting land and sea transport between China and other countries. The port has mature infrastructure and well-developed air-sea-land transport. It helps Hong Kong maintain its position on international trade centre and transshipment hub.
Ship registration is the process by which a ship is documented and given the nationality of the country to which the ship has been documented. The nationality allows a ship to travel internationally as it is proof of ownership of the vessel.
The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) is a South African government agency responsible for the implementation of current international and national regulations regarding the maritime industry as well as upon all recreational marine vessels within its jurisdiction.
Vessel safety surveys are inspections of the structure and equipment of a vessel to assess the condition of the surveyed items and check that they comply with legal or classification society requirements for insurance and registration. They may occur at any time when there is reason to suspect that the condition has changed significantly since the previous survey, and the first survey is generally during construction or before first registration. The criteria for acceptance are defined by the licensing or registration authority for a variety of equipment vital to the safe operation of the vessel, such as safety equipment, lifting equipment, hull structure, static stability, ground tackle, propulsion machinery, auxiliary machinery, etc. The SOLAS Convention, specifies safety equipment for commercial vessels operating internationally.
The MV Aquarius, formerly Aquarius Dignitus and Aquarius 2, is a 1977-built dual-flagged search and rescue vessel, which has been used to rescue refugees and migrants stranded in the Mediterranean Sea since 2016. It has been chartered and operated since February 2016 by the NGOs SOS Méditerranée and Médecins Sans Frontières as a rescue vessel for migrants and refugees making the Mediterranean crossing in makeshift craft from Libya to Italy as part of the European migrant crisis.
International piracy law is international law that is meant to protect against piracy. Throughout history and legal precedents, pirates have been defined as hostis humani generis, Latin for "the enemy of all mankind". The United Nations has codified much of the law in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which defines different types of piracy and ways to combat it.
The Ships Safety Centers or in French "Centres de Sécurité des Navires" are specialized services of the French Directorate general for Maritime affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture. They are responsible for ships surveying and participate in the protection of human life at sea and the prevention of pollution from ships. They are located along the French coast and overseas. Within these centers, ship safety inspectors are responsible for both surveys of French flag vessels and of foreign vessels under Port State Control.
The Caribbean Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control is an international regional organization whose purpose is to organize and harmonize Port State Control inspections on ships calling at ports of its member states. The possibility of inspecting ships flying a foreign flag was formalized by the Montego Bay Convention of 1982, then various texts from the IMO made it possible to specify the extent of the fields of competence of authorized inspectors. This is for them to check the compliance of the ship vis-à-vis international regulations on both technical plans (SOLAS), related to the prevention of pollution (MARPOL), safety management, security (ISPS) and living conditions on board (MLC). In order to promote regional cooperation for the sharing of the task of ships to be inspected as well as the exchange of information, the IMO has encouraged the creation of regional agreements for Port State Control, like the two main ones, Paris Mou and Tokyo Mou. The Caribbean Memorandum was born on February 9, 1996, in Barbados and currently has twenty Member States with the ambition of eliminating the operation of sub-standard ships through a harmonized port State control system.
