Description

South Africa has a number of laws which authorise law enforcement agencies and other government departments to exercise the right to board vessels.Besides these laws, in practice there is confusion between departments of who actually has the authority to board a vessel.There is also reluctance from higher authority, due to either a lack of understanding of the law or hesitancy to upset foreign relations, to exercise South Africa's right to board vessels and protect it sovereignty. 'South Africa has an important role within the international community of seafarers to ensure safe passage in and around our waters, in doing so, the country has to also exercise its right to protect its waters and have to be aware of the fine line between innocent passage and not so innocent passage, which some coastal countries over step, running the risk of hampering international trade to their own country'. The analysis covered in this book should shed some light on what right South Africa has to board vessels and should be useful to any company's vessels passing in and around South African waters as well as help South African authorities understand their own law.