[soneil]

International waters makes less difference than people tend to believe. In international waters, your vessel is held to the laws of it's flag country.

It's not lawless - it's just confusing because different vessels are held to different laws.

[lutorm]

This can for a fact not be a complete truth, because some ferries have to wait to reach international waters before opening the tax free shops (back in the day when there were such things, I guess). If they were always held to the laws of their country, why would it matter where they were?