Is there law on high seas?

[Bergalia]

Two quotes from the above discussion: From MattZ - "As far as maritime law goes, if I crime is commited in international waters, it's the responsibility of the country of the next port of call to make the arrest."

And from D'Artois - "....stay away from the drugs scene. Particularly that's the problem Dutch boaters often have to cope with."

Which possibly explains why the Flying Dutchman is doomed to sail on, and on, and on.....

[safewalrus]

Bergalia

Guess you got it in one there! Like it mon!

[marshmat]

Originally Posted by tarrysailor

...how do I register in Panama?

Ask the Canadian Prime Minister, Paul Martin. When he owned Canada Steamship Lines (whose boats never leave the Great Lakes) he re-registered his fleet to a few little 3rd-world dictatorships so they wouldn't have to pass Canadian inspection and pay Canadian taxes. This is common practice; even $700-million cruise ships do this.

Originally Posted by tarrysailor

...a large number of the rustbucket freighters that do business, don't actually have owners you can find. They are registered in Panama and if you go hunting for who owns them, you get a post office box in Bimini. Salary for crew is paid from a bank account in the Bahamas or some other bank-secrecy country. Is this true?

Yes, this does seem to be the case an awful lot. Libya and Liberia are popular countries of origin; they declare the home port as Nassau and run the $$ out of the Caymans or something similar. Even boats that never leave the Med, or the Great Lakes, are often done like this.

Each country's different as to what it enforces. I like to think flying the Canadian flag is safe, but this isn't true everywhere. Same goes for the US and most European flags. A lot just don't paint a home port under the name, and carry a dozen different flags that they can change as needed. In Canada for instance, it's customary to fly a Canadian flag along with the flag of your home port when in our waters. Not everyone does, it doesn't really matter. But in some countries etiquette is the difference between a warm welcome and a military interception.

On the east coast of Canada, over the Grand Banks, any fishing vessel flying anything other than the Maple Leaf automatically comes under suspicion. Caution is the name of the game. If you're carrying arms and/or drugs, HIDE THEM WELL! (and be prepared to bribe port officials).