Sailors have always known that the sea is a treacherous companion. Kings claimed it, empires fought over it, cartographers divided it and lawyers eventually supplied the necessary terminology. The sea, meanwhile, continued to do much as it pleased. Today, we have territorial seas, exclusive economic zones, continental shelves and elaborate conventions governing almost every conceivable maritime activity. For all this legal ingenuity, a merchant vessel may still find itself at the mercy of forces less innocent than the water.
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