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Comment by mirzap | Hacker News Reader

I’m curious how it’s legal to size a ship in international waters under any circumstances? We have a word for that - piracy.

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Basically stateless ships don't have any international legal protections in international waters (at least according to the US's interpretation of the law).

By the plain text of international law a state cannot commit piracy since piracy specifically only applies to private actors.

> 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...

https://www.un.org/depts/los/piracy/piracy_legal_framework.h...

It's legal because the ships were flying false flags. They claim that they're registered in country X, but when the US calls up country X they are told that the ship is not, in fact, registered there.

Maritime law exists, and enforcing it is not an act of piracy.

Maritime law alone isn't what justifies seizing of ships identified as stateless. Under maritime law ships properly registered to a state are only subject to that states laws when in international waters. But stateless ships can be subject to any states laws, however maritime law itself doesn't grant the right to seize even stateless ships. So the US seizing a stateless ship would have to justified under US law.

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