High Seas

The high seas are all parts of the sea not within the EEZ, territorial sea, internal waters, or archipelagic waters of any state. UNCLOS Part VII reserves them for peaceful purposes and open to all states under the freedoms of Article 87. No state may validly purport to subject any part of the high seas to its sovereignty; jurisdiction over a ship there belongs to its flag state, subject to narrow exceptions for piracy, the slave trade, unauthorized broadcasting, and the right of visit and hot pursuit.