The South China Sea’s next legal frontier: Ships without sailors
The Interpreter – Lowy Institute
“But the legal questions are murky. Under international law, only warships and military aircraft possess ‘belligerent rights’ in wartime. And to be classified as a warship, the Hague Convention VII of 1907 and Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 traditionally require a commanding officer and a crew physically onboard.”
“This raises the crucial dilemma: can an unmanned vessel ever be recognised as a lawful warship?”
“[…] If commanding officers do not need to be onboard, then converting a conventional ship into a warship becomes dangerously easy. Merchant ships, or even auxiliaries, could be reclassified as warships simply by linking them to remote naval officers and hoisting an ensign. When convenient, those links could be ‘disconnected’ and the vessel could revert to civilian status – making it harder for opponents to know what is a lawful target. This uncertainty risks eroding long-standing protections for merchant shipping and neutral trade.”
“The acceptance of UMSs as having warship status also brings us to the tricky question of self-defence…”