Also known as: international water · high seas
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Areas of the ocean lying beyond the territorial jurisdiction of any nation and therefore governed by the law of nations together with enumerated congressional powers over foreign commerce and offenses on the high seas.
Ivy Investments charters a vessel to carry cargo between two foreign ports. While the ship travels through international waters a storm damages the goods. Congress later imposes a uniform duty on similar shipments to fund harbor improvements. The duty applies because the voyage occurred on the high seas subject to federal regulatory authority.
Imperial Motors contracts with a German tug operator to tow its drilling rig from Louisiana to Italy. A storm in international waters causes the rig to roll and suffer damage. The contract requires all disputes to be litigated in England. The clause governs the claim because the casualty occurred outside any nation's territorial waters.
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Island Manufacturing installs turbines on a ship that later fails while the vessel sails in international waters. The failure causes the ship to lose power and sustain further damage. The owner sues the turbine maker in admiralty. The claim proceeds under maritime law because the loss occurred on the high seas.
Idina Iverson purchases a cruise ticket containing a Florida forum-selection clause. She slips and falls while the ship is in international waters off Mexico. She sues in Washington state court. The clause is enforced because the injury took place beyond any state's territorial waters.
Isaiah Ishikawa and accomplices seize a merchant ship on the high seas and murder several crew members. They are brought into a U.S. port and indicted for piracy as defined by the law of nations. The federal court has jurisdiction because the acts occurred in international waters.
Innovate Pharmaceuticals charters a vessel that collides with another ship in international waters. Both vessels are registered in the United States. The court applies U.S. general maritime law rather than foreign law to resolve the resulting personal-injury claims.
Yes. Article I Section 8 empowers Congress to regulate commerce with foreign nations and to define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas. These powers extend to vessels and activities in international waters.
U.S. general maritime law applies when the collision occurs beyond the territorial sea. If both vessels share the same registry the law of the common flag may also apply.
Yes. Courts enforce such clauses when the passenger injury occurs on the high seas because the contract governs disputes arising from the voyage regardless of the place of suit.
A killing is criminal homicide when it is neither justified by legal authorization nor excused by a recognized defense such as self-defense. Fear based solely on piracy warnings does not convert an intentional shooting of an unarmed fisherman into justifiable or excusable homicide.
…offices and post roads, cl. 7, or to grant patents and copyrights, cl. 8, or to "punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas," cl. 10. It might not even need the power to raise and support an Army and Navy, cls. 12 and 13, for fewer people would engage in commercial shipping if they thought that a foreign power…