Sea Robbery

Armed robbery against ships committed inside a coastal state’s internal waters, territorial sea, or archipelagic waters, as distinct from piracy, which UNCLOS Article 101 confines to the high seas and the EEZ. IMO Resolution A.1025(26) defines armed robbery against ships as illegal acts of violence, detention, or depredation directed at a ship within a state’s jurisdiction. The distinction matters: piracy carries universal jurisdiction, while sea robbery falls to the coastal state, the framing the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre uses.