the.com/international waters
the ocean's way of saying nobody's boss here, past 200 nautical miles from shore.
means the parts of the sea beyond any nation's exclusive economic zone, where no single country's laws rule and a patchwork of treaties tries to keep order instead.
from the idea traces to seventeenth-century jurist hugo grotius, who argued the sea couldn't be owned like land, coining mare liberum, free sea, against nations trying to claim entire oceans as property.
legal boundarystarts 200 nautical miles from a coastline
coveragecovers nearly two thirds of all ocean
governing ruleflag state law applies, not local law
popular mythcasinos and weddings there are mostly legend
for instance
unclos 1982 — the treaty 168 nations signed to define these zones
somali piracy waters — gulf of aden became a lawless hotspot in the 2000s
south china sea disputes — china, vietnam, philippines clash over claims since the 1970s