Basically, when you have a registry flag, you sail under the protection of that government, but are required to abide by the rules and regulations set forth by that government, or they will revoke your registry. This is why halfway through the currently airing season, sea sheppard had to stop making stink bomb attacks from the deck of the steve irwin when the dutch registry ordered them to stop. Different laws concerning fishing, freight tarrifs, taxes, etc exist from country to country...this is why you see cargo ships registered to nairobi, kenya and malayasia...places where it is cheaper to keep the ship registered than say the us for example, which requires a great many things for the crew such as certified safety training and certain types of insurance. Also, for arrest purposes a boat at sea in international waters is considered to be the nation whos flag it flies...theres an episode of CSI miami where the suspect has diplomatic immunity in the US, but horatio is able to get them in jail anyway when they go fishing because their boat is registered in bahrain and he can prove tax evasion to the bahranian police. As for boarding actions, im unsure of the legality of this outside of national waters, but in territorial waters a nation's coast gaurd or navy can intercept any vessel and board, search, and inspect it for just about any reason, even just the "official safety inspection" is enough justification. In international waters I'm fairly certain boarding another ship is illegal, but the japanese didnt press charges for piracy or anything last year when they boarded the yushin maru no. 2, and im not sure why. 3 days later they were handed over to an australian negotiating team and returned to their own boat. I believe theres got to be a legal loophole that distinguishes boarding illegally, ie stowaway, from piracy, because piracy laws are pretty draconian, especially in europe where such laws date back to the late 1600s. I do know that it is important to have a registry flag because under international maritime law, an un-registered ship has no protection other than itself, and therefore you can board them, steal their cargo, rape and kill the crew, set the ship on fire and then sink it, all without breaking any laws, provided youre in international waters at the time, of course. Consequently, if sea sheppard were to lose their registry, the japanese would have free license to attack the steve irwin with intent to kill.
|