The Freedom of the Seas is an international legal concept regarding non-territorial waters. It allows for ships to navigate the open seas freely without any restrictions in movement from one port to another. In addition, the concept allows any ship, regardless of country of origin to fish, explore, conduct scientific research, trade, lay pipeline, and so on.
Activities conducted in non-territorial waters cannot include acts of war, military weapons testing, and other such aggressive acts toward another country. The concept has become more important, in recent years, with the increase in piracy in different regions of the world.
In response, the United Nations has passed several new anti-piracy resolutions to help combat this problem. Many participating countries have agreed to work together to address the problem and reduce pirate attacks on ships in non-territorial waters.
While here in the United States acts of piracy have not been a problem for quite some time, in other places around the world they continue to increase in numbers. Some of the areas ships’ crewmen need to be aware of include:
- The Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Nigeria
- The Gulf of Arden off the cost of Somali
- The Indian Sea between India and Sri Lanka
- The Malacca Strait between Malaysia and Indonesia
In these areas of the world, pirates ignore the concept of Freedom of the Seas and take aggressive action toward vessels and their crewmen. The use of violence and weapons by pirates have also escalated when attacking and boarding vessels in these areas.
For those in service of a vessel, cargo ship, oil drilling rig, or other sea-worthy craft, operating in open, non-territorial waters should be peaceful. However, with piracy on the rise, this is not always possible. As a result, ships’ owners need to ensure the safety of crewmen with increased security measures, especially in known piracy areas of the world.
If you or a loved one are taken hostage or injured as a result of a piracy on the open seas, you may be entitled to legal compensation under certain maritime laws. Please feel free to contact one of our maritime piracy attorneys through Maintenance and Cure by calling 1-800-836-5830 today to arrange a free initial consultation.
