Maritime Crime Trivia Quiz

Answer: Piracy

Piracy is generally defined as robbery or criminal violence at sea. Since piracy is illegal, pirate ships cannot claim nationality and are "assimilated to statelessness", meaning that any warship may stop them, investigate and, if there is sufficient evidence of piracy, seize the vessel and arrest the crew.

Answer: Marine pollution

Ships routinely produce waste oil and fuel mixed with water, and this waste is retained in the bilges of the ship or in special tanks. This contaminated waste cannot be pumped directly into the water: it must either be pumped to an authorized facility ashore, or it must be run through an oily water separator (OWS) to purify the water, which can them be pumped overboard in some areas.

The oil from the OWS must be retained and disposed of properly. Both options are expensive because of the equipment involved and the disposal fees.

Many nefarious ships have "magic pipes" that lead from the OWS directly overboard, pumping the waste oil directly into the water. This is an international crime, and ships caught doing it have been fined millions of dollars.

Answer: Mutiny

Mutiny is an uprising against legitimate authority and even though it does occur on land, it thought of as a typical maritime crime. Potemkin was a Russian battleship where a communist crew mutinied against the Tsarist regime; Kronstadt naval base saw a mutiny in 1921 against communist rule and Columbia Eagle was a U.S. merchant ship that suffered a mutiny during the Vietnam War.

Answer: Interned

When war is declared, ships of belligerent nations are generally given a short period to leave any neutral port they are in; if they don't leave, they are subject to internment and the ship and crew will be held for the duration of the war. After widespread internment and some abuses in WW2, the Geneva Convention of 1949 provided for the unrestricted departure of belligerent ships after war starts, and the humane treatment of those that chose to remain.

Answer: High Seas Drift Net

High Seas Drift Nets (HSDN) are typically many miles long and are of such a size that they ensnare just about any animal that comes in contact with them. HSDN were banned worldwide by the United Nations in 1992, but every year since vessels have been found engaging in this fishery and many have been seized.

Answer: Cuba

Cuba lies just 98 miles from the U.S. Following the communist takeover of that country, fleeing Cuban migrants were at first considered to be fleeing communism and were given special consideration for applying for entry into the U.S. even if interdicted far at sea.

In the mid 1990s, that policy changed to "Wet feet, dry feet": Cubans interdicted at sea were returned to Cuba, those that made it ashore (dry feet) were eligible for entry and expedited naturalization. Just before leaving office in 2017, President Obama rescinded this policy and now all illegal immigrants from Cuba (or any other nation) will be returned to their native country.

This change in policy dried up the steady flow of "boat people" leaving Cuba at great risk to their own lives.

Answer: Whaling

The U.S. government and the International Whaling Commission (IWC) permit the Makah tribe to kill one baleen whale per year, following traditional hunting methods. The first whale, a gray, was killed under this permit in 1999, after the gray whale was removed from the Endangered Species List.

Answer: Military personnel conducting scientific research

Under the treaty, Antarctica is preserved for peaceful activity and no nation may claim ownership of the lands or surrounding waters. A number of civilian research stations are on the continent, staffed by civilian as well as military members and often supplied by military ships and aircraft.

Answer: Flogging

Offenders being flogged or whipped were sometimes made to straddle the barrel of a cannon and their hands and feet were bound below the barrel - a position known as "kissing the gunner's daughter". Younger seamen often had their buttocks bared and received their lashes there, while adult seamen were typically beaten on their bare backs.

Answer: No

Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) governs non-judicial punishment that a commanding officer can use to correct the misbehavior of their subordinates. This article included the ability to put the most junior enlisted grades (E-1, E-2 and E-3) on bread and water or "diminished rations" for up to three days. The U.S. Coast Guard prohibits imposition of this particular punishment, but it was available to commanders in the other branches of the U.S. armed forces.
It ceased on January 1, 2019.