Abstract:
Frederick J. Kenney, Jr. is Commander, U.S. Coast Guard, B.A., Michigan State University (1980), J.D., University of San
Francisco (1990). He currently serves as the Coast Guard Liaison Officer to the Office of Oceans Affairs,
U.S. Department of State. He also serves as a member of the U.S. Delegations to the International
Maritime Organization's Assembly, Maritime Safety Committee, Marine Environment Protection
Committee, Communications and Search and Rescue Subcormtittee, and the Navigation Subcommittee. Vasilios Tasikas is a Lieutenant, U.S. Coast Guard, B.A., State University of New York at Buffalo (1994), J.D., Indiana
University School of Law, Bloomington (1997). The co-author currently serves as a staff attorney in the
Office of Maritime and International Law, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters. The co-author also serves as a
member of the U.S. Delegation to the International Maritime Organization's Sub-Committee on
Communications and Search and Rescue. Lt. Tasikas attended the 2002 International Conference on the
Treatment of Persons Rescued at Sea held in Norrkoping, Sweden. Abstract: The duty to provide aid to fellow seafarers in distress has long
been enshrined in maritime tradition. The modem formalization of this duty in
international law, however, has created a division between the duty to "provide
assistance" and the obligation to "rescue." This division has created ambiguity and
friction as the former duty applies to individuals and vessels whereas the latter obligation
applies to states. In recent years, incidents involving two commercial vessels, the Tampa
and the Castor, have starkly illustrated the extent to which this ambiguity and friction in
international law translates into negative effects in the real world.
In response to these two incidents, the International Maritime Organization
("IMO") has begun to act to address dilemmas raised. The IMO has concluded that there
is a true distinction between the duty to "assist" and the duty to "rescue." There is a valid
rationale to maintaining that distinction. The solution to the problems faced by mariners
in this area cannot and should not be solved by conflating the different requirements and
powers implicated by rescue versus assistance. Rather, the solution lies in the creation of
an obligation for coastal, port, and flag states to cooperate and coordinate solutions. This
Article recommends that the Maritime Safety Committee embrace the outcomes
developed at the informal meeting in Sweden in September 2002, which encompass the
concept of finding solutions through international cooperation and coordination.
