I have heard it is a violation of international law for ships to carry weapons. Is this true?
In light of the number of hijackings, I am wondering why these ships are not armed.
I searched through the international law at the first source link I posted below and could not find anything specific about merchant ships carrying weapons.
After reading the second source link, I’ve come to the conclusion that the carrying of weapons aboard merchant ships is regulated by a combination of ship insurance restrictions, ship company rules, and the laws of any country the ship needs to visit as part of doing business on the seas.
I will continue my research.
September 30th, 2009 at 2:03 am
I searched through the international law at the first source link I posted below and could not find anything specific about merchant ships carrying weapons.
After reading the second source link, I’ve come to the conclusion that the carrying of weapons aboard merchant ships is regulated by a combination of ship insurance restrictions, ship company rules, and the laws of any country the ship needs to visit as part of doing business on the seas.
I will continue my research.
References :
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/UNCLOS-TOC.htm
http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/are-guns-answer-attacks-vessels/