About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

48 Geo. J. Int'l L. 873 (2016-2017)
Floating Armories: A Legal Grey Area in Arms Trade and the Law of the Sea

handle is hein.journals/geojintl48 and id is 881 raw text is: FLOATING ARMORIES: A LEGAL GREY AREA IN ARMS TRADE AND THE LAW OF THE SEA By ALEXIS WILPON* ABSTRACT In response to maritime piracy concerns, shippers often hire armed guards to protect their ships. However, due to national and international laws regarding arms trade, ships are often unable to dock in foreign ports with weapons and ammunition. As a response, floating armories operate as weapons and ammuni- tion storage facilities in international waters. By operating solely in interna- tional waters, floating armories avoid national and international laws regard- ing arms trade. However, there is a significant lack of regulations governing floating armories, and this leads to serious safety concerns including lack of standardized weapon storage, lack of records documenting the transfer of weapons and ammunitions, and lack of regulation from flags of convenience. Further, there is no publically available registry offloating armories and so the number of floating armories operating alongside the quantity of arms and ammunition on board is unknown. This Note suggests several solutions that will increase the transparency and safety offloating armories. Such solutions include requirements that floating armoy operators register their vessels only to states in which a legitimate relationship exists, minimum standards that operators must follow, and the creation of a publically available registry. Finally, it concludes by providing alternative mechanisms by which states may exercise jurisdiction over foreign vessels operating in the High Seas. I. INTRODUCTION .................................... 874 II. THE PROBLEM OF MARITIME PIRACY ..................... 877 III. How FLOATING ARMORIES OPERATE ..................... 878 IV. FLOATING ARMORIES AND THE LEGAL GRAY AREA ............... 880 A. The Lack of Laws and Regulations .................. 880 1. No National or International Standards ........ 880 2. Safety and Security Implications .............. 881 B. Inconsistency Between the Flag of the Vessel and the Operator ..................................... 884 1. Lack of Regulations ........................ 884 2. Conflicts of Law Issues ...................... 885 * J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, May 2017. B.S., summa cum laude, Florida State University, 2014. © Copy; 2017, Alexis Wilpon.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most