Understanding the Duty to Rescue at Sea: Legal and Humanitarian Perspectives
The practice of maritime rescue is as old as seafaring itself. Many of the earliest international agreements on maritime commercial practice codified a legal duty to assist vessels in distress. These first efforts to codify the rules of maritime rescue were spearheaded by commercial business, not by state diplomats or humanitarians. Today, the duty to assist vessels in distress is clearly articulated in a set of interlocking international conventions: the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982), the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS Convention, 1974), and the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR Convention, 1979).
As stated in the SOLAS Convention, ‘The master of a ship at sea, on receiving a signal from any source that a ship or air craft or survival craft thereof is in distress, is bound to proceed with all speed to the assistance of the persons in distress informing them if possible that he is doing so.’ (Chapter V, regulation 10(a). This duty, first stated in the 1914 SOLAS Convention and reiterated in its modern (1974) incarnation, was again codified in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, ratified by almost every country in the world.
The SOLAS Convention also required governments to establish maritime rescue facilities to support rescue efforts. The SAR Convention further refined these duties, establishing requirements for rescue coordination centres (RCCs), which would have responsibility for a defined search and rescue region (SRR). These agreed rescue zones continue to play an important role in maritime migration, creating presumptive responsibility for rescue.
The foundations for the duty to rescue in international law—UNCLOS, the SOLAS Convention and SAR Convention—are complementary to the treaties regarding refugees and human rights that create the framework for the modern system of protection for refugees and enshrine the rights of migrants. These include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), the Refugee Convention (1951) and its 1967 protocol, the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954), and the Convention Against Torture (1984), among a number of other key human rights and protection instruments.
The practice of maritime rescue is as old as seafaring itself. Many of the earliest international agreements on maritime commercial practice codified a legal duty to assist vessels in distress. These first efforts to codify the rules of maritime rescue were spearheaded by commercial business, not by state diplomats or humanitarians. Today, the duty to assist vessels in distress is clearly articulated in a set of interlocking international conventions: the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982), the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS Convention, 1974), and the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR Convention, 1979).
As stated in the SOLAS Convention, ‘The master of a ship at sea, on receiving a signal from any source that a ship or air craft or survival craft thereof is in distress, is bound to proceed with all speed to the assistance of the persons in distress informing them if possible that he is doing so.’ (Chapter V, regulation 10(a). This duty, first stated in the 1914 SOLAS Convention and reiterated in its modern (1974) incarnation, was again codified in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, ratified by almost every country in the world.
The SOLAS Convention also required governments to establish maritime rescue facilities to support rescue efforts. The SAR Convention further refined these duties, establishing requirements for rescue coordination centres (RCCs), which would have responsibility for a defined search and rescue region (SRR). These agreed rescue zones continue to play an important role in maritime migration, creating presumptive responsibility for rescue.
The foundations for the duty to rescue in international law—UNCLOS, the SOLAS Convention and SAR Convention—are complementary to the treaties regarding refugees and human rights that create the framework for the modern system of protection for refugees and enshrine the rights of migrants. These include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), the Refugee Convention (1951) and its 1967 protocol, the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954), and the Convention Against Torture (1984), among a number of other key human rights and protection instruments.