[xbhdhdhd]

International waters. Some regulations but not really enforceable. Less regulated than the air inc orbit and even the moon.

A famous movie director once said the film director is the last truely dictatorial post left. He was wrong. The captain of a vessel in international waters is.

[darksaints]

A boat in international waters is fully regulated by its country of registration. For example, it is illegal to possess or consume marijuana in international waters if your boat is registered in the US.

[coretx]

Although you are de-facto right, limitations on the dictatorial power do apply. Both by the international law that guarantees the "freedom" and regulations set by the flag it waves. These exceptions and limitations do not exist in outerspace, thus only the spaceship captain is totally free/unregulated.

[xbhdhdhd]

Interesting, but a non flag bearing ship is certainly facing less oversight than any spaceship commander.

Id also contend the spaceship is likely controllable remotely, and monitored in both location and status.

Maybe the private submarine captain trumps all

[Mountain_Skies]

I might be remembering wrong, but I thought un-flagged ships in international waters are considered pirates and can be acted upon in a hostile manner by flagged ships.

[big_chungus]

Theoretically possible because an un-flagged ship has not the protection of a recognized state. You could do it, but it would be mighty risky and you would have almost zero legal recourse against a bad actor.

[TheSpiceIsLife]

A ship captain, whether marine or space, is only as free and unregulated as the crew and passengers allow.

[quickthrower2]

How are cruise ships "policed"? Does anyone know? E.g. a crime happens aboard - does it get sorted out by the country the ship is registered to?

[guptaneil]

Yes, but nearly all cruise ships are registered with tiny countries like Panama and the Bahamas, in order to have the most lax laws applied to them. Hasan Minhaj did an interesting episode about cruise ships recently on "Patriot Act" if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nCT8h8gO1g

[alexis_fr]

Yes, and most cruise ship have security agents and morgue on board, although I don’t think they generally have actual policemen.

But the point about offshore regulations being hard to enforce is interesting.

[quickthrower2]

Thanks I watched it, Very interesting. Nice mix of comedy and information.

Tldw: within a small number of miles of shore it’s police or federal (USA I guess it’s similar for other countries). After that it’s up to the ship. Cruise companies don’t want crime statistics so are unlikely to do anything about petty crime. There is death on high seas act but that only helps for a blatant murder. Jurisdiction is the flag which is likely to be panama or Bahamas. Your living areas can be searched any time and security can lock you up in your cabin. Cruises seem horrible to me and there are reports in the news of fights breaking out. But the worst thing for me is why be stuck on a ship that has less to do than I can do in my home city?

[BjoernKW]

Theoretically, yes.

However, it seems to be a more or less open secret (from a friend of mine who works in the industry) that investigations won't be conducted as diligently as if the crime had happened on land.

Part of the reason for that is that it's difficult to secure evidence after several days or even weeks and the staff on board or the police in the next port often isn't qualified to do so.

Another contributing factor seems to be that cruise ship operators don't want any hassle or negative press and therefore push for investigations to be dealt with swiftly and silently.

[JamilD]

I’m in the middle of reading “The Outlaw Ocean”; really eye-opening to see how much people can get away with in international waters, away from any scrutiny or accountability.

[tomcam]

Hmmm... https://www.amazon.com/Outlaw-Sea-World-Freedom-Chaos-ebook/...

[mud_dauber]

Until said captain notices a long-range, long-duration-time drone keeping tabs on his operations. That could be interesting.

[jbottoms]

Illegal fish catches are transfered at night when transponders are turned off. So there is now monitoring by satellite, not drones, to identify the culprits. That is cheaper than keeping drones replenished, and its batteries charged, the ocean is huge.

[Apocryphon]

Do Congressional-issued letters of marque have jurisdiction on international waters?

[hef19898]

Letters of Marque and privateering became illegal internationally in the late 19th century with a naval treaty. Prize warfare conducted by official naval forces is something different, si.

[epse]

AFAIK, no. No country has any effect there, as international waters don't belong to any nation.

[BurningFrog]

True, but there is also nothing protecting you from what would be "crimes" on land.

[buboard]

Which international waters? Because what we ve seen is governments will interfere beyond their UN 12 miles territorial waters and into their 200mil economic zones, disallowing any experimentation.