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VERONIKA D’EVEREUX warship (Article 110(1)(e). 59 The right to seizure of the ship therefore applies equally in cases a violation of international maritime law and in cases where the ship is stateless, which is rather undesirable. 60 In order to discharge the duty of the warship, it is proposed that the stateless vessel is brought to a port and once there it becomes subject to further investigation. The jurisdiction of the warship is limited to the purpose of inquiring the information of the status of the vessel or the persons on board. Such jurisdiction would not substitute the full scope of the jurisdiction of the flag state. 61 A stateless vessel is in no way equated to res nullius, it is not susceptible to appropriation or another enforcement measures. 62 There are two contradicting doctrinal opinions whether the intervention can be carried out by a warship of any state (The Any State Theory), 63 or whether the warship should have some connection or a link with the stateless ship , i.e., the crew of the stateless ship are the citizens of the intervening state, or whether the warship has a legitimate interest in the stateless ship and/or its cargo (The Nexus State Theory). 64 Article 91 of UNCLOS in regard to the genuine link between the state and the ship however does not apply to the connection between the warship and an unregistered stateless ship. Therefore, any warship can intervene against the stateless ship sailing in the high seas. 65 In the author’s opinion the seizure of the ship or its detention in the port, in which the respective state authorities carries out an investigation of the registration of the ship and the ownership of the vessel, might partially constitute a ground for comparing the stateless ship on the high seas to a stateless person, for whom it is also inevitable to submit to inspection and investigation carried out by organs of another state. In either way, statelessness is somewhat a matter of a failure of the state, to which the person or ship has a genuine link. A stateless ship as well as a stateless person might be detained in the place designated for it and temporarily limited to the possibilities of departure or freedom of movement. In regard to the similarity in this matter, it also cannot be ruled out that the state might conduct such an investigation, besides other reasons, for the purpose of detecting present criminal activity or history. In this regard, it is nevertheless possible to find a difference. In case of stateless persons, this might be a matter of a violation of obligations of the state in the form of a denial the right to nationality to the child. In the case of stateless ships this might be a matter of disregarding the interest of the international community to maintain the legal order of oceans and the right to safety and undisturbed navigation on the high seas in relation 59 BENNETT, A. That Sinking Feeling: Stateless Ships, Universal Jurisdiction and the Drug Trafficking Vessel Interdiction Act. In: Yale International Law Journal, 2012, vol. 37, p. 449. 60 SOHN, L. B., NOYES, J. E., FRANCKX, E., JURAS, K. G. Cases and Materials of the Law of the Sea, 2nd ed. Leiden: Brill Nijhoff, 2009, p. 206. COVENTRY, T. Seizing Stateless Smuggling Vessels on the Mediterranean High Seas. In: Leiden Journal of International Law, 2023, vol. 36, (4), pp. 925–946. 61 DUBNER, B. H., ARIAS, M. C. Under International Law, Must a Ship on the High Seas Fly the Flag of a State in Order to A void Being a Stateless Vessel? Is a Flag Painted on Either Side of the Ship Sufficient to Identify it? In: USF Maritime Law Journal. 2017. vol. 29 (2), pp.100–153. 62 PAPASTAVRIDIS, c. w. p. 266. 63 ANDERSON, A. W. Jurisdiction over Stateless Vessel on the High Seas: An Appraisal Under Domestic and International Law. In: Journal of Maritime and Commerce. 1982, vol. 13 (3), pp. 323–336. 64 BENNETT, c. w. pp. 433–461. 65 REED SMITH LLP, Human Rights at Sea, Insight Briefing Note, Stateless Vessel . A Commercial Legal Review. [online] [accessed on 19 May 2024] Available at: https://tinyurl.com/u4twpvt2.

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