"Beyond those 24 nautical miles lie the high seas, where national laws have no authority" That's not really the case. A nation's EEZ (exclusive economic zone)

"Beyond those 24 nautical miles lie the high seas, where national laws have no authority" That's not really the case. A nation's EEZ (exclusive economic zone) extends at least 200 miles, within which a nation has certain rights to regulate economic activities. The flag country has jurisdiction over the ship at all times. And, the flag country can make whatever arrangements they want with other powers. For instance, it's routine for the US Coast Guard to stop ships travelling in "international waters" because it has agreements with, eg, the government of Panama that it may do so. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_th...