The Right of the Coastal State to Pursue Foreign Ships in the Open Sea

The free presence of countries in the waters of the world and the inevitable increase in the maritime phenomenon have resulted in consequences such as violation of the national laws of the coastal state and various types of maritime crimes. In most cases, the offending vessels do not pay attention to the orders of the coastal government officials and run away to the open sea by abusing the principle of freedom of navigation. The present research aims to analyze and examine the necessary solutions in the field of how to pursue the violators by studying the sources of international law. This research, which is of an applied and qualitative nature, has collected the necessary data in the field of the right of the coastal state regarding the immediate pursuit of foreign ships at sea, using a library method, and has dealt with the various legal aspects of this right with a descriptive and analytical method. The findings indicate that, although in the open seas, ships are under the exclusive jurisdiction of the flag state, if a foreign ship commits an offense in the maritime areas under the jurisdiction of the coastal state, which violates the laws and regulations of that country, the coastal state can take it under certain conditions to pursue outside the territorial sea and monitoring area. The obtained results showed that the immediate pursuit of a foreign ship in the waters under the jurisdiction of the coastal state or the sea areas where the coastal state has sovereign rights is a right granted to the coastal state according to the international law of the seas. This right is an exception to the principle of freedom of navigation and the principle of exclusive sovereignty of the flag state in the open sea.