Is it legal to kill pirates at sea?

The 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas states that piracy occurs on the high seas. Violent acts against ships in the Territorial Sea of any State cannot be piracy under international law. Violent acts in the Territorial Sea are Armed Robbery under the law of the International Maritime Organisation.

Is it legal to shoot pirates in international waters?

Originally Answered: Is it allowed to kill pirates embarking your ship? Yes. Hostile non-state combatants are not covered by Geneva convention, and they can be treated like common criminals. Since oceans are international territory, the law of the vessel to be boarded is applied.

Are ships armed against pirates?

Merchant ships now plying in high piracy affected areas such as Gulf of Aden (GOA) carry Armed Guards along with a series of non-lethal weaponry to thwart any kind of piracy attempt.

What can be found on a ship?

E.g. rudder, anchor, bow, keel, accommodation, propeller, mast, bridge, hatch coves and bow thrusters are some common visible parts. In contrast, bulkheads, frames, cargo holds, hopper tank, double bottom, girders, cofferdams, side shell etc., are the invisible parts of a ship.

Do cruise ships have guns?

Contrary to people who want to believe that the ships are armed but the cruise lines don’t want to tip their hand to the terrorists, there is in fact no hidden cache of weapons ready to be deployed by the cruise ship’s security forces. Cruise ships are flagged in foreign countries like the Bahamas or Panama.

Do Pirates steal yachts?

Seventy-one pirate attacks were recorded in the region in 2017 — a 163 percent increase from the year before, according to the nonprofit group Oceans Beyond Piracy, which found that 59 percent of the incidents involved robberies on yachts.

Is everything legal in international waters?

International waters (high seas) do not belong to any state’s jurisdiction, known under the doctrine of ‘mare liberum’. States have the right to fishing, navigation, overflight, laying cables and pipelines, as well as scientific research.