People at Sea

"Who are the ‘people at sea’? This generic expression is used to identify any person who is, for a certain period of time, physically at sea. A handful of persons may be in the waters of the sea literally, being shipwrecked, having been thrown overboard, or having jumped into the sea deliberately, whatever their purpose may be. However, persons at sea are usually to be found on board vessels and, to a lesser but still significant extent, on board platforms or other man-made structures. 

People take to the sea for three main reasons: work, travel, and crime.
They may work on board vessels and platforms, they may use the sea to go from one place to another, or they may engage in unlawful lucrative activities, be that trafficking or depredation, favoured by the vastness of the sea and the lack of control by a source of authority. In addition, people increasingly go to the sea for recreation, sailing in yachts, engaged in recreational fishing, taking cruises or other tours.

One strong reason to deal with persons at sea is their sheer numbers: the already noticeable presence of human beings at sea is constantly increasing and the activities in which they are involved are diversifying. e traditional categories of fishers, sailors, passengers, and pirates are nowadays joined by people working on oil rigs, migrants, drug traffickers, arms traffickers, scientists, and many others. However, one must also consider other workers and entrepreneurs who use the sea in the same way as land was used—as a working space from which to conduct their business in fields entirely unrelated to the maritime environment, such as information technology or data storage."

(taken from PAPANICOLOPULU, "International Law and the Protection of People at Sea", OUP 2018, pp. 17-18)